An official website of the United States government.
The major goals of this multidisciplinary project are to elucidate the sources of C. jejuni infection in broiler chickens and to examine the host and environmental factors that affect the transmission of the organism on broiler farms. Our hypothesis is that transmission of the organism is likely a complex and dynamic process, which is mediated by both vertical and horizontal transmission and affected by the host's immune statusand the environmental conditions in the production system.
Campylobacter jejuni has emerged as the leading bacterial cause of food-borne human enteritis. Many studies have revealed that poultry products are the major source of human exposure to the pathogen. The high prevalence of this pathogen on poultry farms, especially in broiler chickens, provides a strong rationale for reducing the pathogen level at the preharvest stage. Although many farm-based epidemiological studies have been conducted, the manner in which C. jejunienters a flock and how it is maintained within a flock are poorly understood. Lack of this information has hampered the design of effective intervention strategies on farms.
<p>
The specific aims of this project are to conduct both laboratory and field studies: <ol> <li>To assess the effect of host immune status on horizontal spread of the organism in young chicks;
<li>To determine if vertical transmission of C. jejuni occurs from breeders to progenies; and
<li>To identify the potential sources androutes for horizontal spread of C. jejuni on poultry farms.</ol>
<p>
These studies address key issues in transmission of C. jejuni andshould yield information useful for controlling this important foodborne pathogen.