The current experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of
dietary supplementations of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZONPs) on
some behavioural, performance, welfare and histopathological
changes in broilers exposed to multidrug resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA)-induced footpad dermatitis(FPD). Eighty-four
males Indian River (IR) broilers were randomly allotted to six
different dietary treatments as follows C-ve, C+ve, 10, 20, 30 and
40 ppm ZONPs from 7- 49ds of age. At day 28, broilers (n = 70)
were subcutaneously injected 0.5mL of saline containing 5.3 ×
107
cfu/ mL of S. aureus (MRSA) in each metatarsal foot pad.
Control (non-infected) broilers were given 0.5 mL of saline (n =
14). Results clarified that non-infected birds and ZONPs fed birds
had significantly higher standing and feeding activities and lower
resting activities in comparison with the infected group. Also, the
S. aureus infected group had significantly lower body weight gain
(BWG) and higher feed conversion ratio (FCR) than the noninfected group. In addition, the non-infected birds and ZONPs
groups had significantly lower object crossing and tonic
immobility times (TI) and gait scores (GS) in comparison with the
S. aureus group. Only ZONPs 30, 40 ppm and non-infected groups
had significantly higher latency to lie time (LLT) and lower serum
cortisol level in comparison with the S. aureus group. Moreover,
4
there were significant changes in the gross lesion score and
histopathological lesion between the different groups. In
conclusion, the dietary supplementation of ZONPs can reduce S.
aureus induced negative effects of FPD in broilers