Scad I

For many economically important diseases of poultry, there is an increasing interest to develop drug-free alternative control strategies against many infectious diseases due to increasing consumersâ€TM concerns about chemical residues in poultry meat. One promising new avenue to achieve this goal is the use of natural and herbal products, hyperimmune IgY antibodies, oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), or probiotics to enhance host defense against microbial infections. Recent studies from our laboratory provided clear evidence that dietary supplements which enhance innate immunity decreased immunopathology associated with infections with pathogenic enteric pathogens. In this report, molecular changes associated with enhanced innate immunity following dietary immunomodulation will be presented using microarray analysis. Alternative prevention and/or treatment measures such as non-chemical dietary supplements that effectively enhance productivity and activate non-specific immunity will help limit the use of antibiotics. However, there is a critical need for more fundamental research to understand poultry immune system and host-pathogen immunobiology in order to develop effective disease prevention strategy.