Research and Markets: Prebiotics and antibiotics in poultry health

For decades, antibiotics have routinely been added to poultry diets at low doses to maximize growth and to control intestinal pathogens that accidentally contaminate poultry products during processing.

 

Unfortunately, this practice has favoured resistance to antibiotics among human pathogens. Consequently, human infections are more difficult to treat.

 

There is, now, increasing interests to discontinue the use of antibiotics in the nutrition of livestock animals. There is, therefore, an urge to develop biological products that could sustain efficiency of production and safety of poultry meat and eggs for human consumption in the absence of antibiotics.

 

Prebiotics are considered potential alternatives to antibiotics, but scientific evidence is lacking.

 

This book helps elucidating the mechanisms by which prebiotics, in comparison to antibiotics, can confer better protection against invading pathogens in chickens. It is relevant for professionals, industrialists and farmers who have major interests in the use of antibiotics and prebiotics to improve animal health and safety of animal products.

 

Prebiotics and antibiotics in poultry health. Edition No. 1. Author:Bushansingh (Shyam), Baurhoo, Doctoral Fellow, McGill University, Canada.

Research interests: Effects of antibiotics, prebiotics and probiotics on human and animal health – Nutrigenomics, Immunology, Microbial profiling and Histology