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<p>The objectives of this work include</p>
<ol>
<li>Establish the significance of the immune status of turkeys to the onset of osteomyelitis;</li>
<li>Establish an experimental model of osteomyelitis and study the etiology of this disease;</li>
<li>Develop methods to reduce the impact of osteomyelitis on turkey production;</li>
<li>Isolate and characterize the etiological agent involved in proventriculitis; and</li>
<li>Develop methods to increase intestinal strength of poultry.</li>
</ol>
<p>Work will continue in this laboratory to evaluate the hypothesis that turkey osteomyelitis develops in birds that are immunologically compromised. Immunological profiling of turkeys will continue to try to establish an indicator of susceptibility of turkeys to the development of osteomyelitis. A concerted effort will be made to develop an experimental model to study turkey osteomyelitis. Work will be conducted challenging turkeys with different organisms via different routes both with and without using agents to comprise the immune system. It has been clearly established by this laboratory that proventriculitis is caused by an infectious agent, probably a virus.</p>
<p>Work will be conducted to try and isolate and characterize the agent responsible for proventriculitis. In addition, work is also planned to determine if dietary manipulations can increase intestinal strength. Work on other metabolically-induced diseases will involve approaches aimed at minimizing pathogen levels to enhance food safety.</p>