AGRASTIM® is an all natural feed additive consisting of Beta (1,3/1,6-D) glucan extracted from the cell walls of spent brewers’, ethanol refineries’, or bakers’ yeast. Beta glucan has existed in the food industry for over 50 years, and has been listed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as - Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS). Each batch of Agrastim® is tested by an independent laboratory and certified to be in compliance with FDA -GRAS guidelines. Agrastim® requires no further FDA or USDA approval for use with farm animals raised for human consumption.
AGRASTIM® is manufactured using a proprietary process, and BIOAGRA anticipates strong patent protection through a recently submitted patent application. BIOAGRA has taken this known entity, yeast Beta glucan, and refined its manufacturing process to produce Beta 1,3/1,6-D glucan with a bioactivity level significantly greater than any competitive products.
The production of biologically active Beta glucan is very time consuming and expensive. A number of companies have claimed to have isolated and purified Beta glucan. However, many of the commercial Beta glucans on the market are of varying purity, ranging from 25 to 60-70%, and most of them have low or no biological activity.
Bioactivity is critical to the effectiveness of Beta glucan. As far as can be determined, BIOAGRA is the only Beta glucan producer providing a written guarantee that all product shipped will have a bioactivity level of at least 80%. AGRASTIM® generally has a bioactivity level in excess of 95%.
AGRASTIM® (Beta 1,3/1,6-D glucan) is an immuno-modulator. AGRASTIM® binds specifically to receptors on specialized cells (macrophages, neutrophils and natural killer cells) that constitute the innate immune system, the frontline of defense when animals or humans suffer from microbial attacks.
The Beta 1,3/1,6-D glucan receptors on these specialized cells are present in all animal groups from the simplest invertebrates to man. Therefore, AGRASTIM® has the same basic biological mode of action within the entire animal kingdom.
When the receptors are engaged by AGRASTIM®, the specialized cells are alerted and become prepared to meet eventual infections by enhanced engulfing and killing of micro-organisms.
The innate immune system’s cells that are stimulated by AGRASTIM® also produce signal molecules called cytokines that activate the formation of new cells and send messages to B- and T-cells to enhance their capacity to mobilize defense against specific disease organisms.
Immune system modulation with AGRASTIM® results in enhanced overall resistance to all possible infectious agents (virus, bacteria, fungi, parasites). Due to its very basic mode of action, Beta 1,3/1,6-D glucan also affects many other biological processes, such as wound healing, degradation of dead body cells, killing of tumor cells, and repair of damaged cells and tissues.
When AGRASTIM® is fed to farmed animals, it has been shown to: Reduce mortality (fewer losses through premature death) Reduce morbidity (fewer losses through disease) Increase bacterial resistance Increase viral resistance Increase feed conversion (greater weight gain on less feed) Increase growth rate (reaching market weight in shorter growing time) Increase longevity (longer life for breeding stock)
AGRASTIM® also has been shown to improve the immune system’s conversion of vaccines through increased antibody response.
Poultry - AGRASTIM® has been shown to reduce mortality resulting from bacterial infections, improve weight gain and feed conversion, reduce condemnations, and shorten growing time, resulting in higher profits for the producer
Dairy Cattle - AGRASTIM® has been shown to reduce somatic cell count, the indicator of infection that results in decreased milk production. Beef and pigs - AGRASTIM® increases the number and survivability of live births and increases feed conversion.
Fish and shellfish - AGRASTIM® increases disease resistance and feed conversion.
Horses - AGRASTIM® (EquiForce®) has been shown to improve stamina and increase vaccine conversion.
Because AGRASTIM® works through stimulation of the body’s own immune system, it helps promote the overall health of most animals, while increasing disease resistance.
Bacterial infections, including necrotic enteritis and salmonella, are currently the greatest health threat to poultry flocks in the U.S. The Beta 1,3/1,6-D glucan found in AGRASTIM® has been shown to effectively increase resistance to these and other bacteria.
While bacterial infections also affect the rest of the world’s poultry markets, the threat of viral disease poses a more immediate and economically devastating effect. The avian influenza virus (H5N1) poses a serious threat in Asia, Africa and Europe. Because of the potential of transfer to humans, the World Health Organization (WHO) tracks every reported incident, and has set up a Global Outbreak Response Network. Since 2003, there have been 366 documented cases of humans infected with the H5N1 virus, of which 232 resulted in fatality.
The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) has issued the following statement:
”The highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) epizootic (animal outbreak) in Asia, Europe, the Near East, and Africa is not expected to diminish significantly in the short term. It is likely that H5N1 virus infections among domestic poultry have become endemic in certain areas and that sporadic human infections resulting from direct contact with infected poultry and/or wild birds will continue to occur. So far, the spread of H5N1 virus from person-to-person has been very rare, limited and unsustained. However, this epizootic continues to pose an important public health threat.”
Viet Nam has reported ongoing and recurring outbreaks of H5N1 virus, resulting in the slaughter of millions of chickens and ducks. In 2007, the virus was also reported in Germany, France, The Czech Republic, and Russia, China, Romania and Poland.
In November 2007, Suffolk County, England experienced the outbreak of H5N1 virus on several farms and emergency measures required the culling of thousands of turkeys, geese and ducks. In January and February 2008, outbreaks of H5N1 virus were reported in Viet Nam, Indonesia and China. Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, had severe outbreaks during that same period. In a desperate attempt to contain the virus within their borders, health officials in that region slaughtered over 5 million birds.
Roughly 80 per cent of rural households in India’s West Bengal district keep hens and ducks in their backyards to supplement their incomes, a practice encouraged by the state government, which distributes millions of chicks to poor communities each year. Approximately 1.3 million of those birds became infected and died during the recent avian flu outbreak, creating a severe health hazard and economic loss for thousands of poor families.
Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a more widely occurring, but lesser known avian influenza. NDV is a contagious and fatal viral disease affecting most species of birds. Clinical signs are extremely variable depending on the strain of virus, species and age of bird, concurrent disease, and preexisting immunity. NDV is so virulent that many birds die without showing any clinical signs. A death rate of almost 100 percent can occur in unvaccinated poultry flocks. NDV can infect and cause death even in vaccinated poultry. Fortunately, NDV has not infected domestic chicken flocks in the United States since the last outbreak was eradicated in 1974.
Outbreaks of NDV occurred in July and again in September 2007, in northwestern Bulgaria. Bulgaria immediately imposed a ban on exports of live poultry and poultry products to the European Union as a preventive measure against the spread of NDV.
Local veterinarians preventively destroyed birds from infected farms, and a ban on trading poultry and poultry products on open air markets was imposed in the region of the new outbreaks. Authorities started vaccinating all poultry in the 10-kilometer surveillance zone around the infection-hit farms. Many Bulgarian poultry farmers were unable to recover from the economic losses sustained in that outbreak, and remaining farmers are looking for government intervention to prevent total collapse of that industry.
Control of viral diseases is dependent upon prevention through sanitation and biosecurity, and by vaccination. Strict sanitation and biosecurity are essential for successful poultry production and are not always practiced, especially on smaller farms.
Vaccination is no substitute for effective management. It must be understood that vaccines may be effective in reducing clinical disease, but exposed birds, in most cases, still become infected and shed disease organisms. While vaccines have been developed for many avian viruses, they are ineffective once infection occurs.
Vaccines are virus specific, which means that birds must be inoculated with a different vaccine for each of a number of viral diseases. This practice is expensive and management intensive.