A pilot study to detect coccidiosis in poultry farms at early stage from air analysis. (September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Grilli, Guido; Borgonovo, Federica; Tullo, Emanuela; Fontana, Ilaria; Guarino, Marcella; Ferrante, Valentina
• Is Part Of: Biosystems engineering. Volume 173(2018)
• Page Start: 64
• Page End: 70
• Publication Date: 2018-09
• Subjects: Precision Livestock Farming -- Poultry -- Coccidiosis detection -- Air quality -- Volatile Organic Compounds; VOCs Volatile Organic Compounds -- opg oocysts g−1 [faeces] -- PCA Principal Component Analysis -- LDA Linear Discriminant Analysis -- DPs Discrimination Powers -- KNN K Nearest Neighbours -- PLF Precision Livestock Farming; Bioengineering -- Periodicals; Agricultural engineering -- Periodicals; Biological systems -- Periodicals; Génie rural -- Périodiques; Systèmes biologiques -- Périodiques; 631
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2018.02.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1537-5110

Abstract

Abstract : Nowadays, the preventive use of antibiotics in intensive farming system is common and this management practice lead to the spreading of drugs in the environment, contributing to the phenomena of antibiotic resistance. For this reason, different professional figures work on the development of drug reduction strategies. Due to the high priority of this issue, early detection of any health problem is of great importance in intensive farming. Precision Livestock Farming (PLF), through the combination of cheap technologies and specific algorithms, can provide valuable and rapid information for farmers starting from the huge amount of data that can be collected in real time at farm level. A prototype, able to give information about air fingerprint, was developed and tested in an experimental poultry farm in order to observe if air quality data were related to the presence of coccidiosis. Air samples were collected once a week in Nalophan ® bags and transported to the laboratory for instrumental analysis. The prototype was able to discriminate between infected and not infected pens at a very early stage, when only 250 oocysts g −1 [faeces] (opg) were present in one pen. These results were also confirmed by analysing air samples in a commercial poultry farm, since all samples were correctly classified by the prototype in infected or not infected pen. This pilot study has shown that this technology could be installed in farms to continuously monitor health status of broilers, supporting farmers in the sustainable management of their activities. Highlights: Patent pending device to analyse air in poultry farms was used to detect coccidiosis. The prototype was able to recognise the infection at a very early stage. The prototype seems to work well also on air sample from a commercial poultry farm. New PLF technology to monitor enteric pathologies in livestock buildings.