Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2020
Identification of Transmission Routes of Campylobacter and On-Farm Measures to Reduce Campylobacter in Chicken
Frosth, Sara; Karlsson-Lindsjo, Oskar; Niazi, Adnan; Fernstrom, Lise-Lotte; Hansson, IngridAbstract
An in-depth analysis was performed on Swedish broiler producers that had delivered chickens with Campylobacter to slaughter over several years, in order to identify possible transmission routes and formulate effective measures to prevent chickens being colonized with Campylobacter. Between 2017 and 2019, 626 samples were collected at farm level and Campylobacter was isolated from 133 (21.2%). All C. jejuni and C. coli isolated from these samples were whole-genome sequenced, together with isolates from the corresponding cecum samples at slaughter (n = 256). Core genome multi-locus sequence typing (cgMLST) analysis, using schemes consisting of 1140 and 529 genes for C. jejuni and C. coli, respectively, revealed that nearby cattle, contaminated drinking water, water ponds, transport crates, and parent flocks were potential reservoirs of Campylobacter. A novel feature compared with previous studies is that measures were implemented and tested during the work. These contributed to a nationwide decrease in Campylobacter-positive flocks from 15.4% in 2016 to 4.6% in 2019, which is the lowest ever rate in Sweden. To conclude, there are different sources and routes of Campylobacter transmission to chickens from different broiler producers, and individual measures must be taken by each producer to prevent Campylobacter colonization of chickens.Keywords
broiler; Campylobacter coli; Campylobacter jejuni; campylobacteriosis; cgMLST; chicken; environmental sampling; on-farm measures; transmission routes; whole-genome sequencingPublished in
Pathogens2020, volume: 9, number: 5, article number: 363
Publisher: MDPI
Authors' information
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
Karlsson Lindsjö, Oskar
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Biomedical Science and Veterinary Public Health
UKÄ Subject classification
Microbiology
Publication Identifiers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9050363
URI (permanent link to this page)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/106864