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Human Health Risk from Antimicrobials Used in Poultry
POULTRY Digital Expert Knowledge at your Fingertips September 2011 - Issue 9
Poultry Production Without Antimicrobials A healthy intestine is vital for good health and production in poultry, according to Dr Richard Bailey, poultry health scientist with Aviagen. Speaking on the importance of the intestinal microbiota for chicken health at the joint session of the British Society of Animal Production and the UK Branch of the World's Poultry Science Association earlier this year, Dr Bailey said that one of the key aims of producing animals for the food chain is to obtain good growth rates and performance through feed conversion efficiency while maintaining optimal animal health. To achieve this, a healthy gut is essential, he said. Optimal intestinal health is heavily reliant upon the acquisition and maintenance of a balanced intestinal microbiota, which has become one of the key topics in the European poultry industry. Microorganisms reside in all known habitats, therefore, animals have had to evolve in a world full of bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa. Part of the evolutionary process has resulted in symbiotic relationships between an animal and its microbial residents.
The intestinal microbiota of an animal is a complex population of microbes dominated by a large bacterial community. The composition of this community is highly dynamic with spatial shifts in population along each region of the intestinal tract in relation to the change in conditions of each section. Continued on page 4... 1