Page 13 - Demo

NFF welcomes farm safety
Limiting e coli transmission from hen to chick
THE National Farm- commitment for new
The laying period is a stressful time for birds, so there was concern that the additional stress caused by vaccination could be harmful.
The other reason is mainly related to broiler parents, because by limit- ing the level of e coli in- fection, we’re able to limit the vertical transfer of e coli to the broilers.
ers’ Federation wel- comes the coalition’s commitment of $10 million to improve farm safety outcomes, if elected, which the NFF anticipates will include an allocation to continue the life- saving work of Farm- safe Australia.
activities to continue the implementation of the National Farm Safety Education Fund Strategy.”
Escherichia coli infec- tion, or colibacillosis, is a major cause of first-week mortality in broilers.
And as it’s very diffi- cult to control horizontal spread in the production setting, limiting vertical transmission is especially important.
However, the European Medicines Agency re- cently lifted this restric- tion based on evidence of the vaccine’s safety for use during lay, including re- sults from an independent study we conducted at the University of Copenhagen. What were you looking for in your safety study and how was it set up?
Producers can now vac- cinate birds in lay against e coli with the assurance that it does not cause ad- verse effects, and the vac- cine strain will not survive in the environment or on the surface of the eggs.
NFF chief executive officer Tony Mahar said, “Our people are agriculture’s most im- portant asset.”
E coli can be transmitted horizontally in the hatch- ery or vertically from par- ent to offspring.
There are three indirect ways in which vaccination helps.
The hens themselves will also be better pro-
“Part of the plan for agriculture to be a $100 billion industry by 2030 includes a target for zero farm fatalities by the same year.”
The coalition’s pledge delivers on NFF’s Time to Thrive election plat- form to provide addi- tional funding to imple- ment the National Farm Safety Education Fund Strategy and to support the work of Farmsafe Australia.
Genuine vertical infec- tion happens when e coli colonises the egg-laying ‘machinery’ of the bird, including the oviduct and cloaca, resulting in the embryos becoming in- fected.
First, vaccination of broiler parents should improve their immune re- sponse toward e coli in- fection, thereby reducing the chance of transmitting e coli to the embryo or eggshell.
Our study was conducted in more than 10,000-layer parents in Denmark.
First appeared in Poultry Health Today.
Electron micrograph of e coli bacteria. Photo: Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH
Colibacillosis is an infection that can be either local- ised or systemic caused by avian pathogenic e coli.
Farmsafe Australia, of which NFF is the secretariat, has been leading transforma- tional work to achieve better farm safety out- comes.
“We call on Labor to demonstrate a simi- lar commitment to the safety and wellbeing of our farmers and farm workers,” Mr Mahar said.
More often, however, it’s the surface of the egg that’s contaminated with e coli, causing infection at hatch.
Furthermore, vaccina- tion also supports mater- nally derived immunity in chicks, helping to further limit the risk of infection and severe disease.
We looked at the effect of vaccination on bird health, laying performance and hatching results, and also whether the vaccine strain could shed cloacally and survive in or on the sur- face of the eggs.
“Farmsafe’s most re- cent work was made possible by a $1.9 mil- lion federal govern- ment grant in 2019,” Mr Mahar said.
This is what we call egg infection, but in a way, it’s also functioning as verti- cal transmission that can then spread horizontally to a very large number of chicks, increasing risk of first-week mortality.
Finally, research has shown that vaccination leads to changes in e coli populations.
The birds were vacci- nated with Poulvac e coli twice during rearing – at five days and 14 weeks – and a third time while the birds were in lay at 30 weeks.
“Since then, there has been a 21 percent de- crease in farm accident fatalities.
In the past, day-old chicks were sometimes treated with antibiotics to control e coli infection, but this approach has fall- en out of favour in many countries since antibiotic resistance is a major con- cern.
What was that barrier preventing the use of Poulvac e coli in Europe for birds in lay?
“The coalition’s com- mitment could super- charge Farmsafe’s ca- pacity to improve farm safety awareness and culture change across the agriculture, fisher- ies and forestry sectors.
Poulvac e coli has been approved for use during the laying period in many other markets for several years.
And what did you find?
“We also welcome the coalition’s funding
NFF CEO Tony Mahar.
Furthermore, Poulvac e coli had no adverse effects on health and production
www.poultrynews.com.au
National Poultry Newspaper, May 2022 – Page 13
Farmsafe’s Safer Farms 2020 report re- vealed agriculture was ranked as the second most dangerous indus- try to work in by rate of fatalities, with those over the age of 50 most at risk from farm-relat- ed injuries or death.
How do neonatal chicks contract and spread the infection?
How does vaccination help limit the vertical transmission of e coli?
It’s also a way to limit the spread of e coli, some of which have a zoonotic potential to be transferred into the human food chain.
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How is colibacillosis typically controlled in the hatchery setting?
If this were to reduce the pathogenic components, this could also affect ver- tical transfer.
Egg samples and cloacal swabs were taken three and seven days following the third vaccination to determine presence of the e coli vaccine strain inside and on the surface of the eggs.
THE following is an interview with Henrik Christensen of the Uni- versity of Copenhagen regarding limiting the transmission of e coli from hen to chicks.
This means that new ap- proaches are required, us- ing all-in-all-out produc- tion methods, high levels of biosecurity, vaccination and competitive exclusion.
data on a vaccine’s use during lay has not been presented.
parameters – including number of eggs, hatching and progeny – when ad- ministered to birds in lay. How will producers in Europe benefit from being able to vaccinate hens in lay against e coli?
tected – so we can help decrease mortality related to e coli and improve ani- mal welfare.
Meanwhile we have also seen evidence of a high degree of vertical transfer from parent to offspring.
In Europe, however, its authorisation did not allow for use in lay or within six weeks of onset of the lay- ing period, which is stand- ard practice when safety
We found that the vac- cine strain was not shed cloacally and was not pre- sent in or on the eggs.