Novel C.perfringens therapy as an alternative to antibiotics

由于对抗生素耐药性的担忧和消费者对不含抗生素的肉类的偏好，不再允许在牲畜中使用抗生素生长促进剂（以前抑制某些细菌疾病）。这导致了由产气荚膜梭菌引起的家禽坏死性肠炎（NE）和猪肠炎等疾病发病率的增加。东北肉鸡是家禽生产中最重要的经济疾病之一，全球每年的损失和治疗费用超过6亿加元（英国为3亿英镑）。被大肠杆菌污染的肉类也是导致人类食物中毒的第三大常见原因。当家禽肠道菌群受到干扰（例如饮食改变或球虫感染）导致c.p perf过度生长时，就会发生NE。NE可作为高死亡率（每日1%）的急性疾病存在，也可作为亚急性疾病存在，对生产性能和动物福利都有害。该可行性项目正在研究的治疗方法旨在提供一种非抗生素替代品，以维持牲畜的健康和福利，以应对东北东北地区和其他细菌性疾病给牲畜带来的日益严重的挑战。

Due to concerns regarding antibiotic resistance and consumer preference for meat which is antibiotic-free, use antibiotic growth promoters (which previously suppressed certain bacterial diseases) in livestock are no longer permitted. This has resulted in an increase in rates of diseases such as necrotic enteritis (NE) in poultry and enteritis in swine caused by Clostridium perfringens (C.perf). NE is one of the most economically important disease in poultry production, with losses and treatment costs in excess of c$6bill each year globally (c£300mill in the UK). Meat contaminated with C.perf is also the third most common cause of food poisoning in humans. NE occurs in poultry when the gut flora is disturbed (e.g. by a change in diet or coccidiosis infections) leading to an overgrowth of C.perf. NE can exist as an acute disease with high mortality (1% daily) and as a sub-acute disease -both detrimental to production performance and animal welfare. The therapy under investigation in this feasibility project seeks to provide a non-antibiotic alternative to maintaining the health and welfare of livestock in the face of the increased and severe challenges presented to livestock by NE and other bacterial diseases.