Dr. Ravi Kulkarni of the Department of Population, Health and Pathobiology of the College of Veterinarian Medicine, North Carolina State University, recently concluded a USPOULTRY-funded research project on detection of necrotic enteritis. The first component of the program involved reproduction of necrotic enteritis administering a specific pathogenic strain of Clostridium perfringens to create a dysbiosis-model. Previously, reproduction of necrotic enteritis required the administration of sub-clinical doses of mixed species of Eimeria to reproduce intestinal coccidiosis, the natural precursor of the condition.
It was demonstrated that broiler chickens undergoing necrotic enteritis released volatile organic compounds that could be detected by gas chromatography in manure and air. Trials showed that two amines were present at high concentration in manure from affected experimental birds compared to non-infected control subjects.
The initial results will have to be be validated with field trials to demonstrate that the presence of the two volatile amines serve as an early and specific indicator of the presence of the condition in flocks.