Genetic diversity and description of transmission routes for Campylobacter on broiler farms by amplified-fragment length polymorphism

Johnsen, G.; Kruse, Hilde; Hofshagen, Merete

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2672.2006.02995.x

Cited by 49 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…According to EFSA (2010a), the prevalence in the EU of Campylobacter-contaminated broiler carcasses, in 2008, was reported as 75.8% and varied from 4.9% to 100.0% among the EU MSs. That prevalence is higher than the respective prevalence for broiler batches, which come into accordance with the results of other studies (Hue et al, 2011;Powell et al, 2012;Chokboonmongkol et al, 2013), assuming that cross-contamination from positive batches to negative batches does occur during the slaughtering process and associated carcass preparation (Jørgensen et al 2002;Johannessen et al 2007;EFSA, 2010a;Hue O. et al, 2011) through contamination of the slaughterhouse environment (Johnsen et al 2006). The counts of Campylobacter bacteria on broiler carcasses varied widely also between countries, which might be due to differences in slaughterhouse hygiene and processing practices Sampers et al, 2008;EFSA, 2010a).…”

Section: Broiler Slaughterhouses -Carcassessupporting

confidence: 79%

Campylobacter spp. infection in humans and poultry

Natsos

Koutoulis

Sossidou

et al. 2018

J Hellenic Vet Med Soc

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Campylobacter is well recognized as the leading cause of bacterial foodborne diarrheal disease worldwide. The infection may be subclinical or cause disease of variable severity. The eating and handling of improperly cooked or raw broiler meat has been shown to be one of the most important sources of human campylobacteriosis. Birds carrying Campylobacter are asymptomatic colonizers without any clinical signs. Broilers are considered Campylobacter free after hatching and become colonized by exposure to viable bacteria from the environment. Several risk factors can result in the introduction of Campylobacter into the flocks making it difficult to keep chicken flocks free of Campylobacter throughout the rearing period. Lack of biosecurity measures, season, age, partial depopulation practices, flock size, type of production system, presence of other animals on farm, water quality, presence of rodents and mechanical transmission via insects are considered to be some of the risk factors associated with horizontal transmission. The control of Campylobacter in poultry seems crucial for the reduction of human campylobacteriosis cases. In Greece, there has been a dearth of information on prevalence and risk factors of Campylobacter in broiler flocks. Therefore, it is essential to initially investigate the prevalence of Campylobacter infection on farms and in poultry carcasses and subsequently the risk factors at all production stages of broiler meat and plan intervention studies to help reducing the disease in humans. This paper review the most recent data reported worldwide on Campylobacter infection in humans and poultry in order to provide an overview of trends, risks, possible causes and mechanisms of transmission routes.

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Section: Broiler Slaughterhouses -Carcassessupporting

confidence: 79%

Campylobacter spp. infection in humans and poultry

Natsos

Koutoulis

Sossidou

et al. 2018

J Hellenic Vet Med Soc

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“…Farm-level epidemiological survey-based studies have identified a number of important risk factors for infection of broiler flocks (4,15,22,24) and in recent systematic reviews (1; http://www.foodbase.org.uk/results.php?f_category_idϭ &f_report%20idϭ384) of available literature, the most important risk factors identified included the age of the flock, the use of staggered slaughter, the presence of multiple broiler houses, farmworkers, and other livestock on the farm. Molecular epidemiological investigations have provided supporting evidence for the role of farm surrounds and onfarm puddles (5,20), flies (16), transport crates (17), and broiler house water systems (30) as sources. However, the direction of this environmental contamination is uncertain and may be both from and into the poultry house.…”

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confidence: 99%

Longitudinal Molecular Epidemiological Study of Thermophilic Campylobacters on One Conventional Broiler Chicken Farm

Ridley¹,

Morris

Cawthraw³

et al. 2011

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Improved understanding of the ecology and epidemiology of Campylobacter in the poultry farm environment is key to developing appropriate farm-based strategies for preventing flock colonization. The sources of Campylobacter causing broiler flock colonization were investigated on one poultry farm and its environment, from which samples were obtained on three occasions during each of 15 crop cycles. The farm was adjacent to a dairy farm, with which there was a shared concreted area and secondary entrance. There was considerable variation in the Campylobacter status of flocks at the various sampling times, at median ages of 20, 26, and 35 days, with 3 of the 15 flocks remaining negative at slaughter. Campylobacters were recoverable from various locations around the farm, even while the flock was Campylobacter negative, but the degree of environmental contamination increased substantially once the flock was positive. Molecular typing showed that strains from house surroundings and the dairy farm were similar to those subsequently detected in the flock and that several strains intermittently persisted through multiple crop cycles. The longitudinal nature of the study suggested that bovine fecal Campylobacter strains, initially recovered from the dairy yard, may subsequently colonize poultry. One such strain, despite being repeatedly recovered from the dairy areas, failed to colonize the concomitant flock during later crop cycles. The possibility of host adaptation of this strain was investigated with 16-day-old chickens experimentally exposed to this strain naturally present in, or spiked into, bovine feces. Although the birds became colonized by this infection model, the strain may preferentially infect cattle. The presence of Campylobacter genotypes in the external environment of the poultry farm, prior to their detection in broiler chickens, confirms the horizontal transmission of these bacteria into the flock and highlights the risk from multispecies farms.

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“…This investigation has also provided evidence that campylobacter contamination of the farmer's boots provided the route of transmission from the cattle in the adjacent field to the poultry farm environment, probably causing colonization in houses on adjacent farm B first and then leading to colonization of the flock on farm A. Campylobacters recovered from farmers' boots were identified in a recent study as a likely source of flock infection (22), and a report from the Food Standards Agency entitled Evidence for the Effectiveness of Bio- (1), clearly indicates that farmers are the major vehicle for tracking campylobacters into poultry houses. There is also a possible role for the feed truck in transmission as a P1.T1-positive signal was recovered from a wheel well, but there were many other strains also present and a clear relationship to the poultry-colonizing strain could not be confirmed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Real-Time PCR Approach for Detection of Environmental Sources of Campylobacter Strains Colonizing Broiler Flocks

Ridley

Allen

Sharma

et al. 2008

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Reducing colonization of poultry flocks by Campylobacter spp. is a key strategy in the control and prevention human campylobacteriosis. Horizontal transmission of campylobacters, from in and around the farm, is the presumed route of flock colonization. However, the identification and prioritization of sources are confounded by the ubiquitous nature of these organisms in the environment, their poor rates of recovery by standard culture methods, and the need for cost-effective and timely methods for strain-specific comparison. A real-time PCR screening test for the strain-specific detection of campylobacters in environmental samples has been developed to address this issue. To enable this approach, fluorescently labeled PCR oligonucleotide probes suitable for a LightCycler-based assay were designed to match a highly variable DNA segment within the flaA short variable region (SVR) of Campylobacter jejuni or C. coli. The capacity of such probes to provide strainspecific tools was investigated by using bacterial cultures and spiked and naturally contaminated poultry fecal and environmental samples. The sensitivity of two representative probes was estimated, by using two different C. jejuni strains, to be 1.3 ؋ 10 2 to 3.7 ؋ 10 2 CFU/ml in bacterial cultures and 6.6 ؋ 10 2 CFU/ml in spiked fecal samples. The specificity of the SVR for C. jejuni and C. coli was confirmed by using a panel of strains comprising other Campylobacter species and naturally contaminated samples. The approach was field tested by sampling the environment and feces of chickens of two adjacently located poultry houses on a conventional broiler farm throughout the life of one flock. All environmental samples were enriched for 2 days, and then DNA was prepared and stored. Where feasible, campylobacter isolates were also recovered and stored for subsequent testing. A strain-specific probe based on the SVR of the strain isolated from the first positive chicken fecal sample was developed. This probe was then used to screen the stored environmental samples by real-time PCR. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used to compare recovered environmental and fecal isolates to assess the specificity of the method. The results established the proof of principle that strain-specific probes, based on the SVR of flaA, can identify a flock-colonizing strain in DNA preparations from enriched environmental cultures. Such a novel strategy provides the opportunity to investigate the epidemiology of campylobacters in poultry flocks and allows targeted biosecurity interventions to be developed. The strategy may also have wider applications for the tracking of specific campylobacter strains in heavily contaminated environments.

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Genetic diversity and description of transmission routes for Campylobacter on broiler farms by amplified-fragment length polymorphism

Cited by 49 publications

References 35 publications

Campylobacter spp. infection in humans and poultry

Campylobacter spp. infection in humans and poultry

Longitudinal Molecular Epidemiological Study of Thermophilic Campylobacters on One Conventional Broiler Chicken Farm

Real-Time PCR Approach for Detection of Environmental Sources of Campylobacter Strains Colonizing Broiler Flocks

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