Supplemental Effect of Lactobacillus Plantarum on the Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Gas Emission, Excreta Microbiota, and Meat Quality in Broilers

The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) supplementation on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gas emission, excreta microbiota, and meat quality in broilers. A total of two hundred eighty-eight, one-day-old Ross-308 chicks (mixed sex) were randomly allocated to one of two treatments with eight replicated cages (18 chicks per cage). For a period of 35 days, control treatment chicks were fed commercial corn-soybean meal-based (CON) mash form diet, whereas, LP (Lactobacillus plantarum) - chicks were fed CON with 0.10% L. plantarum supplement. The dietary inclusion of 0.10% L. Plantarum supplementation has a trend to increase the body weight gain (BWG) of broilers at day 7(p=0.079) and significantly increased at day 21 (p=0.011) and the overall trial period (p=0.037) compared to the CON diet. In addition, 0.10% L. plantarum supplementation to basal diet significantly decreased H2S (p=0.046) concentration. Also, it has significantly increased the excreta Lactobacillus population (p=0.041) and reduced the E. coli count (p=0.054) compared to the CON diet. However, throughout the trial there were no significant differences observed on nutrient digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen, and gross energy, as well as meat quality traits in broilers, fed 0.10% L. plantarum diet. In summary, the inclusion of L. plantarum supplementation has a beneficial effect on growth performance, excreta microbiota, and gas emission. From this, we conclude that 0.10% of L. plantarum could be a potential feed additive to enhance poultry production.(AU)

Supplemental Effect of Lactobacillus Plantarum on the Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Gas Emission, Excreta Microbiota, and Meat Quality in Broilers

The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) supplementation on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gas emission, excreta microbiota, and meat quality in broilers. A total of two hundred eighty-eight, one-day-old Ross-308 chicks (mixed sex) were randomly allocated to one of two treatments with eight replicated cages (18 chicks per cage). For a period of 35 days, control treatment chicks were fed commercial corn-soybean meal-based (CON) mash form diet, whereas, LP (Lactobacillus plantarum) - chicks were fed CON with 0.10% L. plantarum supplement. The dietary inclusion of 0.10% L. Plantarum supplementation has a trend to increase the body weight gain (BWG) of broilers at day 7(p=0.079) and significantly increased at day 21 (p=0.011) and the overall trial period (p=0.037) compared to the CON diet. In addition, 0.10% L. plantarum supplementation to basal diet significantly decreased H2S (p=0.046) concentration. Also, it has significantly increased the excreta Lactobacillus population (p=0.041) and reduced the E. coli count (p=0.054) compared to the CON diet. However, throughout the trial there were no significant differences observed on nutrient digestibility of dry matter, nitrogen, and gross energy, as well as meat quality traits in broilers, fed 0.10% L. plantarum diet. In summary, the inclusion of L. plantarum supplementation has a beneficial effect on growth performance, excreta microbiota, and gas emission. From this, we conclude that 0.10% of L. plantarum could be a potential feed additive to enhance poultry production.

Epidemic cholera in Latin America, 1991-1993: implications of case definitions used for public health surveillance.

This report presents the various cholera case definitions used by the affected countries of Latin America, shows the numbers of cholera cases and deaths attributable to cholera (as reported by Latin American countries to PAHO through 1993), and describes some regional trends in cholera incidence. The information about how cholera cases were defined was obtained from an October 1993 PAHO questionnaire. In all, 948429 cholera cases were reported to PAHO by affected Latin American countries from January 1991 through December 1993, the highest annual incidences being registered in Peru (1991 and 1992) and Guatemala (1993). The case-fatality rate over the three-year period, and also in 1993, was 0.8%. A general downward trend in the incidence of cholera was observed in most South American countries, while the incidence increased in most Central American countries. A good deal of variation was noted in the definitions used for reporting cholera cases, hospitalized cholera cases, and cholera-attributable deaths. Because of these variations, broad intercountry comparisons (including disease burden calculations and care quality assessments based on case-fatality rates) are difficult to make, and even reported trends within a single country need to be evaluated with care. The situation is likely to be complicated in the future by the arrival of V. cholerae O139 in Latin America, creating a need to distinguish between it and the prevailing O1 strain. For purposes of simplicity, wide acceptance, and broad dissemination of case data, the following definitions are recommended: Confirmed case of O1 cholera: laboratory-confirmed infection with toxigenic V. cholerae O1 in any person who has diarrhea. Confirmed case of O139 cholera: laboratory-confirmed infection with toxigenic V. cholerae O139 in any person who has diarrhea. Clinical case of cholera: acute watery diarrhea in a person over 5 years old who is seeking treatment. Death attributable to cholera: death within one week of the onset of diarrhea in a person with confirmed or clinically defined cholera. Hospitalized patient with cholera:a person who has confirmed or clinically defined cholera and who remains at least 12 hours in a health care facility for treatment of the disease.

Epidemic cholera in Guatemala, 1993: transmission of a newly introduced epidemic strain by street vendors.

Epidemic cholera reached Guatemala in July 1991. By mid-1993, Guatemala ranked third in the hemisphere in reported cases of cholera. We conducted a case-control study with two age-, sex-, and neighbourhood-matched controls per patient in periurban Guatemala City. Twenty-six patients hospitalized for cholera and 52 controls were enrolled. Seven (47%) of 15 stool cultures obtained after admission yielded toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1. All seven were resistant to furazolidone, sulfisoxazole, and streptomycin, and differed substantially by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis from the Latin American epidemic strain dominant in the hemisphere since 1991. In univariate analysis, illness was associated with consumption of left-over rice (odds ratio [OR] = 7.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4-36), flavored ices (-helados') (OR = 3.6, CI = 1.1 - 12), and street-vended non-carbonated beverages (OR = 3.8, CI = 1.2-12) and food items (OR = 11.0, CI = 2.3-54). Street-vended food items remained significantly associated with illness in multivariate analysis (OR = 6.5, CI = 1.4-31). Illness was not associated with drinking municipal tap water. Maintaining water safety is important, but slowing the epidemic in Guatemala City and elsewhere may also require improvement in street vendor food handling and hygiene.

An outbreak of cholera from food served on an international aircraft.

In February 1992, an outbreak of cholera occurred among persons who had flown on a commercial airline flight from South America to Los Angeles. This study was conducted to determine the magnitude and the cause of the outbreak. Passengers were interviewed and laboratory specimens were collected to determine the magnitude of the outbreak. A case-control study was performed to determine the vehicle of infection. Seventy-five of the 336 passengers in the United States had cholera; 10 were hospitalized and one died. Cold seafood salad, served between Lima, Peru and Los Angeles, California was the vehicle of infection (odds ratio, 11.6; 95% confidence interval, 3.3-44.5). This was the largest airline-associated outbreak of cholera ever reported and demonstrates the potential for airline-associated spread of cholera from epidemic areas to other parts of the world. Physicians should obtain a travel history and consider cholera in patients with diarrhoea who have travelled from cholera-affected countries. This outbreak also highlights the risks associated with eating cold foods prepared in cholera-affected countries.