Improvement of poult performance following Bordetella avium challenge by administration of a novel oxy-halogen formulation.

The ability of a novel oxy-halogen formulation (OHF) to alter the development of bordetellosis (turkey coryza) in large white turkey poults was assessed. Bordetella avium (BA)-infected (1-day-of-age) and noninfected control poults received 0, 0.008%, or 0.016% of an OHF continuously in the drinking water. At 4, 7, 10, 14, and 17 days of age, reisolation of BA from infected poults was attempted. Infected poults receiving 0.016% OHF exhibited significantly lower cumulative BA reisolation rates (90%) when compared with infected poults receiving 0 (96.7%) or 0.008% OHF (100%). At 7, 14, and 17 days of age, infected poults in the OHF-treated groups were significantly heavier than those BA-challenged poults receiving control water. Feed utilization was significantly improved from hatch to 7 days of age in BA-infected poults receiving OHF when compared with infected poults receiving control water. Clinical symptoms were severe only in untreated, infected poults and were mild or absent in all others. Damage to the tracheal epithelium, as measured by scanning electron microscopy, paralleled the clinical signs. Tracheal epithelial damage was virtually eliminated by OHF administration in infected poults. These results suggest that OHF treatment ameliorates many of the symptoms frequently associated with bordetellosis in young turkeys.