SUMMARY
- Orego-Stim helped to support broiler immune system, and growth rates in an E. coli challenge model.
- Orego-Stim in combination with an antibiotic demonstrated effective reduction of E. coli in broilers.
- Orego-Stim is a natural solution to support broilers exposed to an E. coli
BACKGROUND
- E. coli 078 can cause sub-acute infection or fatal septicaemia (Chansiripornchai and Sasipreeyajan, 2002).
- Oregano essential oil has both antibacterial and antioxidant properties (Gheisar and Kim, 2018).
- Orego-Stim is a high quality eubiotic containing 100% natural oregano essential oil.
TRIAL DESIGN
An independent trial was conducted by El-Ghany and colleagues (2014), University of Cairo, Egypt, where 200 Hubbard chicks were randomly assigned in equal numbers to one of 5 groups:
Treatment | Treatment duration | Challenge1 | |
NC | Unchallenged, no treatment (Negative Control) | ||
PC | Challenged, no treatment (Positive Control) | ü | |
OS | Orego-Stim (300ml/1000L water) | 14-18 days of age | ü |
CP | Ciprofloxacin (CIPRO 20%®, 5mg/kg BW/day) | 14-18 days of age | ü |
OS+CP | Orego-Stim (300ml/1000L water) + Ciprofloxacin2 (5mg/kg BW/day) | 14-18 days of age | ü |
1On day 14 of age, each broiler in the challenged groups was inoculated intramuscularly with 0.5ml of a nutrient broth culture containing 108 CFU E. coli O78/ml. Treatment duration was 5 consecutive days, from 14-18 days of age. 2Fluoroquinolone antibiotic.
Body weights of all broilers were measured weekly. To test humoral immune response, broilers in all groups were inoculated intramuscularly, at 3 weeks of age, with an injection containing 5% washed sheep red blood cells, 0.5ml/bird. Haemagglutinating inhibiting (HI) antibody titers were measured at 4, 5 and 6 weeks of age.
RESULTS
- Broilers treated with a combination of OS and CP had numerically greater body weight compared with PC, OS and CP groups (Figure 1).
- Broilers supplemented with OS and CP had the lowest E. coli re-isolation rate amongst challenged groups (Figure 2).
- Humoral immune response was significantly greater in broilers fed OS, CP, or combination, compared with positive control (Figure 3).
- Cell mediated immune response was increased in broilers fed Orego-Stim compared to PS, as demonstrated by increased phagocytic activity in monocytes (Figure 4).