Parasites of the Christmas turkey

In the temperate West, the turkey remains popular fare for festive feasts. It is a large bird, amenable to intensive rearing, and now represents one of the cheapest forms of poultry meat available (Box 1). In the USA alone, nearly 100 million birds are raised annually - mainly in Minnesota and North Carolina. But intensive rearing can incur risks of epizootic parasitic diseases, often responsible for severe economic losses. Improved management and medication have reduced the impact of some, such as 'gapezvorm disease', histomoniasis and intestinal coccidiosis; leucocytozoonosis now presents less of a threat than in the past, but some 'newer' diseases such as cryptosporidiosis may yet present severe problems. In this article, Peter Long, William Current and Gayle Noblet review the main parasite challenges faced by the commercial turkey industry.