Developing an experimental necrotic enteritis model in turkeys - the impact of Clostridium perfringens, Eimeria meleagrimitis and host age on frequency of severe intestinal lesions

Table 3 Effect of Clostridium perfringens and Eimeria meleagrimitis on frequency of severe intestinal lesions

Study variable	Study variable level	EM dose¹	Hours after EM²	Experiments	No. of birds (gut contents)	% score3	OPG³
CP⁴	No	10–20	125–145	1,4,7,9⁵	33 (6)	6.1^c	5.8^e
3-wk-old	Yes	10–20	125–145	1,4,7,9⁵	57 (8)	12.3^c	6.0^e
	No	10–20	125–145	9	24 (4)	4.2^c	5.8^e
	Yes	10–20	125–145	9	23 (4)	8.7^c	5.5^e
5-wk-old	No	10–20	125–145	9	24 (4)	41.7^c	5.3^e
	Yes	10–20	125–145	9	25 (4)	76.0^d	5.7^e
EM dose⁶	0.25–1.6	–	121–168	2,3	101 (21)	6.9^a	5.6^a
(thousands)	5	–	123–171	1,4	68 (15)	25.0^b	5.4^a
	15–20	–	123–171	1,4	68 (15)	27.9^b	5.5^a
Low dose	0.25–1.6	–	121–123	2,3	44 (9)	< 2.3^a	4.5^a
dynamics		–	145	2,3	45 (9)	2.3^a	6.1^b
		–	168	3	12 (3)	46.2^b	6.2^b
High dose	5–20	–	123–129	1,4	45 (12)	73.3^a	6.5^a
dynamics		–	145–147	1,4	44 (6)⁷	< 2.3^b	5.2^b
		–	169–171	1,4	47 (12)	6.4^b	4.9^b

¹Numbers (in thousands) of inoculated Eimeria meleagrimitis oocysts per bird, ² Number of hours elapsed between Eimeria meleagrimitis inoculation and examination of turkeys, ³Median log₁₀ of oocysts per gram intestinal contents, based on samples of contents from posterior small intestine (from Meckel’s diverticulum to caeco-intestinal junction), caeca and colorectum from Eimeria meleagrimitis-inoculated turkeys ⁴Clostridium perfringens inoculation, ⁵ OPG counts based on data from experiments 1, 7 and 9, ⁶ 3-week-old Eimeria meleagrimitis-inoculated and Clostridium perfringens-inoculated turkeys, ⁷ OPG data only from experiment 4
^a-bDunn’s test with Bonferroni adjustment of p-values for multiple comparisons. Different letters indicate significant (p < 0.05) difference, ^c-dPearson chi-square test. Different letters indicate significant (p < 0.05) difference, ^eKruskal-Wallis rank test. Different letters indicate significant (p < 0.05) difference

ISSN: 1746-6148