WATT PoultryUSA - September 2010

Naturally present in organs

In our next study, Campylobacter spp. were found to be naturally present in a variety of organs including the thymus, spleen, liver, gallbladder and ceca of varying age breeder hens (Table 3).

Determining how and when Campylobacter infects internal organs could provide important information in determining intervention strategies for reducing Campylobacter in broiler and broiler-breeder flocks. However, whether long-term reservoirs are established in body organs and ultimately contribute to contamination of intestinal and reproductive tracts via these routes has not yet been determined.

Vertical transmission implicated

Research data can be confusing because even though egg transmission

from the breeder flock has not been fully recognized as a source of entry, there is an abundance of research implicating vertical transmission as a means of contamination of a breeder flock, and subsequently, the broilers.

Campylobacter is not an easy organism to isolate and finding it in newly hatched chicks is difficult possibly because the number of cells is small or the microorganism enters into a state known as “viable but not culturable.” On the other hand, researchers have demonstrated that artificially inoculated eggs will result in chicks with Campylobacter in their intestines at hatch.

Campylobacter in chicks

In another unique study, newly hatched chicks raised in a laboratory environment without exposure to any environment or possible source of

Campylobacter became colonized. This along with other work strongly suggests that even though the organism usually cannot be isolated from the newly hatched chicks, Campylobacter are present in a significant number of chicks.

While a great deal is known about possible routes of contamination, there is much we do not know. In the meantime, control is only possible with a multiphase approach and does not ensure that poultry will be free from Campylobacter at processing. ■

N.A. Cox1, L. J. Richardson*, R. J. Buhr1, P. J. Fedorka-Cray1, and Y. Vizzier-Thaxton2

1 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Russell Research Center, Athens, GA 30605 2 Department of Poultry Science, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39759 Coca Cola, One Coca Cola Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30313

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