Experimental gastroenteritis in newly-hatched chicks infected with Campylobacter jejuni

The susceptibility of chicks to enteritis caused by Campylobacter jejuni was studied. Three-day-old chicks did not develop enteritis after oral infection but chicks infected within 12 h of hatching developed gastroenteritis. The incubation period correlated with the inoculum size. Initially, infected chicks developed blood- and mucus-containing stools, although watery diarrhoea often occurred late in the course of the disease. Recurrences of the enteric manifestations were common but only two out of 170 infected chicks died. C. jejuni was recovered from sites throughout the intestine; the highest concentrations were present in the caecum and large intestine. Both the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract were affected and cellular infiltration of the gastric mucosa and the intestinal lamina propria was observed. Organisms resembling C. jejuni were seen within the intestinal epithelium and lamina propria by electronmicroscopy. The newly hatched chick provides a reproducible and sensitive model of campylobacter enteritis.