A Trial to Prevent Sorbitol Negative Escherichia coli Infections in Chicks using Autogenous Bacterin and Probiotics

This study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of locally prepared autogenous bacterin from sorbitol negative (sor-) Escherichia coli isolated from chicken feeds as well as commercially prepared probiotic in the prevention of sor-E. coli infection in broiler chicks. A total of forty (40) representative chicken feed samples were randomly collected and screened for the presence of sor-E. coli using pour plate technique. The isolate obtained was characterized and identified using its morphological and biochemical characterization. The pathogenic potentials of the isolate on the broiler chicks were investigated by challenging the chicks orally using 0.5ml of the inoculum (108cells/ml). The protective effects of locally prepared autogenous bacterin (B), commercially prepared probiotic (P) and autogenous bacterin plus commercially prepared probiotic (BP) were investigated using in vivo method. Out of 40 representative chicken feed samples, 23(57.5%) were positive for sor- E. coli. There were significant obvious pathological signs and lesions in the internal organs of the infected non-protected chicks, which decreased significantly (p<0.05) when protected with P, B and PB. The higher viable mean plate counts were obtained from the internal organs of the infected non-protected chicks which significantly (P<0.05) decreased when protected with P, B and PB. Moreover, the serological investigation revealed an improvement in the titer of antibodies after vaccination and probiotic treatment. The tested antimicrobial agents have proved to be safe and effective against the isolate, of which BP showed the most pronounced activity