Darrell W. Trampel, DVM, PhD, Extension Poultry Veterinarian and Poultry Diagnostician, Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine
Situation:
Iowa is the No. 1 egg producing state in America with over 55 million laying hens. The egg industry continues to grow in this state and Hy-Line International is the world’s largest source of genetics for egg-type chickens. Iowa produces approximately 8.0 million turkeys per year. A significant broiler industry is centered around Agri-Processors in Postville, IA which is a kosher processing plant. Iowa has the one of the nation’s largest producer of quail eggs and chicks and this country’s largest producer of Hungarian partridge.
A certain degree of mortality is associated with commercial production of poultry. For example, livability of turkeys between placement in the brooder house as poults and marketing at 18 weeks is approximately 90%. In addition to diseases that cause mortality, other subclinical disease conditions exist that do not kill the birds but reduce the rate of gain and feed efficiency of a flock.
Objective:
A major part of the job responsibilities of the ISU extension poultry veterinarian is to provide diagnostic assistance to Iowa’s commercial poultry producers, gamebird producers, and owners of small-scale or hobby flocks. In addition, Dr. Trampel serves as the coordinator of two state-wide poultry disease surveillance programs: a) Avian Influenza in turkey and chicken flocks and b) Salmonella enteritidis monitoring of commercial egg-type chicken flocks..
Activities/Output:
The poultry diagnostic cases from January 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007 are listed below.
Diagnostic Cases (January 1, 2007 - December 31, 2007).
testReportName Total Accessions Total Test
Anticoagulant Panel 1 3
Avian influenza AGID 374 7479
Avian influenza AGID - 1 1089 20215
Avian influenza AGID - EY 187 2504
Avian Influenza ELISA 15 451
Avian Pneumovirus ELISA 351 4065
Avian Pneumovirus IFA (NVSL) 25 27
Bacterial ID Extended 23 34
Bacterial ID Short 67 112
Comments 36 36
Culture Saved 17 142
Culture Summary 2 2
Custom Chemistry 1 130
Egg Culture - Negative 3 81
Fungal Culture Results 1 1
Hematoxylin and Eosin Slides 131 513
Necropsy (juvenile - adult) 91 91
Necropsy (neonate - fetus) 62 62
Past multocida somatic typing (NADC) 2 2
PCR - Avian influenza virus 176 178
PCR - based detection 1 2
PCR - PRRSV fluid 1 6
Poultry - Salmonella Enviromental Negative 272 1003
Poultry - Salmonella Enviromental Positive 211 872
Poultry - Salmonella Enviromental Suspicious 232 823
Poultry Susceptibility 4 5
Poultry Susceptibility 37 47
Poultry Susceptibility 40 51
PRRS virus ELISA 7 110
Routine Culture 65 565
Routine Culture 49 252
Routine Culture 70 70
Routine Culture 50 50
Routine Culture - Aerobic and Anaerobic 1 1
Routine Culture - Aerobic and Anaerobic 1 1
Salmonella Id 14 14
Salmonella Identification (NVSL) 153 277
Sodium in feed or tissue 2 2
Sodium in fluids 1 2
Special Stains - Acid Fast 1 2
Special Stains - Fungus (GMS) 2 3
Special Stains - Mast Cells (Giemsa) 1 3
Tetra enrichment 72 189
Type A Rotavirus antigen-capture ELISA 4 4
Total 2,366
ISU LIMS indicates that 148 cases involved necropsy, and 125 cases involved histopathology.
2. Avian species for which necropsy, histopathology, or both were performed.
Egg-type Chickens (Layers) 96
Meat-type Chickens (Broilers) 12
Turkeys 25
Pigeons 28
Quail 4
Peafowl 2
Partridge 3
Psittacine 1
Total 171
Impact/Outcomes:
This work provides vital support for Iowa’s poultry and gamebird industries in general as well as for specific companies, such as Hy-Line North America and Hy-Line International. Poultry producers receive individual attention and the most rapid diagnoses that science will allow. A rapid diagnosis permits early intervention via vaccination, antibiotic therapy, or management changes which greatly reduce the morbidity and mortality in affected flocks. In addition to protecting bird health, monitoring programs for avian influenza and Salmonella enteritidis are potential zoonotic diseases and ongoing surveillance programs are important for protecting public health.
2008
180 – Other ANR Programs
Page last updated:
August 26, 2008
Page maintained by Linda Schultz, lschultz@iastate.edu
