The incidence of necrotic enteritis in turkeys is associated with farm, season and faecal Eimeria oocyst counts.

BACKGROUND: Specific studies on the epidemiology of necrotic enteritis in turkeys are absent in the literature. Necrotic enteritis is common in turkeys and a leading cause of use of therapeutic antibiotics. This study describes the incidence of necrotic enteritis in turkey farms, and the association between incidence and bird age, season, faecal oocyst counts, grow-out size and feed mill. RESULTS: Necrotic enteritis was diagnosed post mortem in 20.2 % of 545 grow-outs of commercial female and male B.U.T. 10 turkeys started during the years 2010-2016. 80 % of all cases occurred at four to seven weeks of age. Median (minimum-maximum) age at disease detection was 37 (18-115) days. Turkey age at detection was influenced by season, and varied from 33 days among grow-outs hatched in February to 42 days among those hatched in July-August. The incidence also varied with season, showing peak occurrence among grow-outs hatched during February-March and the lowest incidence in turkeys hatched in July-August. 59 % of all cases were detected in 25 % of the farms. The incidence per farm varied from below 4 to 59 %. A multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression model indicated clear impacts of farm and season on incidence, and border-line impacts of grow-out size and feed mill. Grow-outs diagnosed with necrotic enteritis had higher counts of faecal Eimeria oocysts than grow-outs without a diagnosis. This difference was particularly clear during the high-risk period at five to seven weeks of age. Necrotic enteritis was the cause of treatment with therapeutic antibiotics in 88.2 % of all cases of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that necrotic enteritis incidence in turkeys can be substantially influenced by risk factors at farm level. The incidence showed two seasonal peaks; a moderate peak in turkeys hatched in October/November and a marked peak in turkeys hatched during February/March. Mitigation measures at the farm may therefore be of particular importance during these months in farms located in the Northern temperate zone. Measures which effectively reduce counts of faecal Eimeria oocyst are likely to be among the more promising actions to take both at the farm and at population level.

Prescription of antimicrobial drugs in Norwegian aquaculture with an emphasis on "new" fish species.

The usage of antimicrobial (AM) drugs in farmed fish in Norwegian aquaculture for the period 2000-2005 was investigated by using prescription data. These data were validated against national sales data of AM drugs sold for use in farmed fish and were found to be highly valid. The defined course dose (DCD) was applied as the unit of measurement to correct for the variations in the dosages between different AM drugs. The DCD(kg) was the amount of an AM drug recommended for the treatment of a 1-kg fish. The calculated number of prescribed DCD(kg)s is an estimate of the biomass of farmed fish that can be treated with a certain amount AM drug. In the present study, the number of prescriptions issued (i.e., numbers of initiated treatments), weight of active substance prescribed and biomass treated were applied to describe the usage. An increase, although modest, in the AM drug usage in Norwegian aquaculture was observed from 2002 to 2005. This increase was accounted for by new-farmed fish species (other than Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout), especially Atlantic cod. The increased usage of AM drugs in cod in the study period was significantly positively correlated to the biomass produced; even so from 2001 to 2005 the number of prescriptions for cod relative to the produced biomass declined. The AM drug usage in Atlantic halibut as well as the production varied during the study period. For other species such as turbot, coalfish and wolffish the usage of AM drugs was found to be negligible. "Mono-therapy" with quinolones may present a selective pressure in regard to development of quinolone resistance.