Understanding Your Animals Through Biomarkers: The Verax™ App

Interested in understanding more about the important role of blood biomarkers in poultry health and performance? Dr. Montana Oubre, technical services manager with dsm-firmenich, recently sat down with Dr. Jason Emmert of The Poultry Podcast to discuss this important topic, as well as the emerging influence of artificial intelligence in veterinary science. Listen to the episode to learn more on gut health, biomarkers and more.

The estimated cost of coccidiosis globally is between USD 9.2 and 15.6 billion, or approximately USD 0.2 per chicken (Blake et al., 2020). This estimate is derived not only from the cost of prophylactics and therapeutics, but also the associated performance and mortality loss. Additional losses due to secondary challenges associated with coccidiosis may also increase the overall economic impact. Many protozoa plague the livestock industry but, in poultry, there are seven Eimeria species of the protozoal parasite coccidia that infect different regions in the intestinal tract (Shirley et al., 1986). Regardless of the site of infection, Eimeria have a complex life cycle that includes stages within the bird and environment. Depending on the Eimeria species, site of infection and life cycle stage, certain prevention strategies may be more effective than others (Chapman and Rathinam, 2022).

Coccidiosis is a common and highly contagious parasitic disease that has significant impacts on poultry production around the world. Globally, it is estimated to cost the industry around 10 billion USD each year due to economic losses generated from reduced performance as well as cost of prevention and treatment (Blake et al., 2020). With the growing human population and subsequent increase in demand for poultry products, understanding coccidiosis and its control is more important than ever.