ImmunoWall®, a yeast-based product from ICC Brazil, helps producers looking for alternatives to keep their farms safe with the best cost-benefit ratio

The bacteria resistance has put animal protein producers around the world on alert. Scientists continue investigating the “route” of these resistant microorganisms, trying to understand how they survive and affect from the health of animals to that of humans who consume proteins, even with the use of several treatments. The issue made WHO (World Health Organization) create a worldwide mapping, which was released at the end of last year by BBC Brazil (read the full article here: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-50119820).

It is worth remembering that in December 2018, the SDA (Department of Agricultural Defense), linked to MAPA (Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply), published the restriction on the use of various antibiotics that promote animal growth, through Ordinance No. 171. The determination is based on the recommendations of international bodies. (https://www.iccbrazil.com/brasil-restringe-uso-de-antibioticos-promotores-de-crescimento/).

Contamination by Salmonella haunt poultry production, because in addition to affecting the welfare, health and performance of animals and generating high economic losses, there is a risk of transmission of pathogens to final consumers. If you follow news about poultry, you probably remember the Salmonella outbreak in the United States in 2018 (remember it here: https://www.iccbrazil.com/surto-de-salmonella-nos-eua-gera-alerta-mundial/). At the time, it was announced that annually, more than 1.3 million people are infected in the country by one of the 2,300 types of Salmonella, leading to about 23 thousand people hospitalized and 450 deaths. And in that period, more than 200 million possibly contaminated eggs were recalled from American supermarkets.

Salmonella enteritidis is a serotype that colonizes the cecum and internal organs of laying hens, resulting in translocation to the ovary. Therefore, it can contaminate eggs and be found in them due to the infection in the ovaries or intestinal tract.

Additives help control pathogens in poultry

In order to avoid the incidence of pathogens such as Salmonella, investments in food safety in poultry production are increasingly prioritized. With the withdrawal or decrease in the use of antibiotics in the diet of poultry, one of the options for controlling pathogens are additives that can help to reduce the incidence of pathogenic bacteria. Feed additives can be an important component of a program for animal health, quality and safety of production. This is a global and irreversible trend, as the end consumer is becoming more aware of the relationship between nutrition and health.

As an alternative to the use of antibiotics, aiming to help producers maintain the quality of their farms and, at the same time, obtain the best cost-benefit ratio, ICC Brazil introduces the ImmunoWall®. The product based on yeast cell wall that has a high capacity to agglutinate pathogens, significantly reducing their presence in meat and eggs, in addition to naturally stimulating the cells of the animals’ immune system, ensuring a faster and more efficient response to infections and others challenges faced in the field. ImmunoWall® stands out for being a product based on a yeast cell wall considerably thicker and with a high concentration of β-glucans (> 35%) and mananoligosaccharides, MOS (~ 20%).

ImmunoWall: proven reduced contamination in eggs

A survey at Southern Poultry Research Group (Athens, GA – USA) by Hofacre, et al. (2016) was conducted to evaluate the use of the product in the diet to reduce the colonization of Salmonella enteritidis SE in the cecum and ovaries of laying hens.

From 10 weeks of age, young poultry were fed control diets or diets supplemented with ImmunoWall® and, on the 16th week, were challenged orally with SE (3.0×10⁹ CFU/poultry with nalidixic acid-resistant SE). At seven and 14 days after the challenge, samples of the cecum and ovaries were collected. The SE was isolated and identified.

ImmunoWall® proved to be very effective in reducing the prevalence of infection in the cecum (93.8% for ImmunoWall® vs. 97.9% for Control at seven days and 47.9% for ImmunoWall® vs. 53.2% for Control at 14 days). The group fed diets supplemented with ImmunoWall® also showed a lower prevalence of Salmonella enteritidis in the ovary (33.3% for ImmunoWall® vs. 41.7% for Control at seven days and 2.1% for ImmunoWall® vs. 4.2% for Control at 14 days).

The reduction of colonization in the cecum is an extremely important factor in relation to food safety, since it will consequently decrease fecal contamination on the surface of eggs. After laying, cooling begins and the bacteria on the egg surface penetrate through the pores of the shell, i.e., the less contamination of the surface with SE, the less contamination inside the egg.

In addition to being a 100% natural additive, ImmunoWall® has proven to be a viable solution to improve intestinal health and ensure food safety. Want to learn more? Follow ICC Brazil’s blog and discover our complete product portfolio on our website: https://www.iccbrazil.com/linha-produtos/.