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REVIEW article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1474549

Predisposition factors and control strategies of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli in laying hens

Provisionally accepted
Paul Waliaula Paul Waliaula 1Elijah G. Kiarie Elijah G. Kiarie 2Moussa S. Diarra Moussa S. Diarra 1*
  • 1 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Ottawa, Canada
  • 2 University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Shift in laying hens housing from conventional cage-based systems to alternatives has impacted their health and performance. Microorganisms colonize young chick in the early stages of their physiological and immune development. These colonizing microbes originate from parent and the environment. Escherichia coli is among the normal gut colonizing bacteria however, some E. coli strains known as avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), cause systemic infections (colibacillosis) responsible of significant economic losses to poultry industry. Potential APEC strains and other poultry gut microbiota are influenced by several factors such as housing system, and feed additives (prebiotics, probiotics, symbiotic, among others). This review will discuss the status of pullets and layers immunity, gut health, predisposing factors of colibacillosis. Dietary interventions and some colibacillosis mitigation strategies in pullets and laying hens are reviewed and discussed. With the development of sequencing technologies and the use of feed additives as alternatives to antibiotics, future studies need to understand some of the complex associations between the feed additives, the rearing environment, and their selective pressure on gut microbiota, including E. coli, and their impact on immune development in pullets and hens.

    Keywords: Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), Colibacillosis, AMR, feed additives, Pullets, Layers

    Received: 16 Aug 2024; Accepted: 23 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Waliaula, Kiarie and Diarra. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Moussa S. Diarra, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Ottawa, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.