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Parallel Sequencing Reveals Campylobacter spp. in Commercial Meat Chickens Less than 8 Days Old.
F M Colles1,2, S J Hedges1, R Dixon1
1The Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Department of Zoology, University of Oxfordgrid.4991.5, Oxford, UK.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
|September 22, 2021
Summary
Campylobacter bacteria are present in young chicks much earlier than previously detected, indicating new opportunities for controlling food contamination and human illness. Early detection in poultry is key to preventing disease spread.
Area of Science:
- Food safety
- Microbiology
- Veterinary medicine
Background:
- Campylobacter contamination in poultry meat is a significant cause of human gastroenteritis globally.
- Current on-farm biosecurity measures and detection methods (microbiological culture) for Campylobacter have inconsistent outcomes.
- Traditional culture methods often fail to detect Campylobacter in chickens until they are at least 21 days old.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the early presence and diversity of Campylobacter in commercial broiler flocks.
- To assess the effectiveness of advanced sequencing techniques for detecting low-level Campylobacter infections in young chicks.
- To identify new intervention points for controlling Campylobacter contamination in the poultry supply chain.
Main Methods:
- Utilized parallel sequence-based bacterial 16S profiling analysis.
- Employed targeted sequencing of the Campylobacter porA gene.
- Tested fecal samples from commercial flocks in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and France.
Main Results:
- Campylobacter DNA was detected in all tested commercial flocks at less than 8 days of age, across three European countries.
- Young chicks showed a greater diversity of porA types compared to older birds detected by culture or qPCR.
- Findings suggest that a few Campylobacter variants dominate as bacterial levels increase and become detectable by traditional methods.
Conclusions:
- Campylobacter infection occurs much earlier and more widely in commercial poultry than previously recognized.
- Early-stage detection using sensitive methods offers new strategies for controlling Campylobacter.
- Intervention efforts should focus on preventing the overgrowth of single Campylobacter strains in young birds to reduce meat contamination and human disease.
