Colonization of broiler chickens by waterborne Campylobacter jejuni

Chickens on a broiler farm in southern England were found to be colonized with Campylobacter jejuni of a single serotype, Lior 1 Penner 4. The farm was the sole supplier of a local slaughterhouse associated with a campylobacter outbreak in 1984 caused by this serotype. The serotype persisted on the farm for at least 18 months after the outbreak; its prevalence in the human population served by the farm remained high until it disappeared from the farm in 1986. The possible sources and routes of transmission of C. jejuni to the broilers on the farm were investigated. The results showed that vertical transmission, feed, litter, small mammals, and environmental or airborne cross-contamination between sheds or successive crops could be excluded as persistent sources of C. jejuni. The predominant source of C. jejuni on the farm was shown to be the water supply. Direct microscopy and fluorescent antibody methods revealed presumptive campylobacters throughout the farm's water system. Campylobacter-free chickens raised in an animal house and given water from the farm supply became colonized with the serotype of C. jejuni endemic on the farm (Lior 1 Penner 4). An intervention program based on water chlorination, shed drinking system cleaning and disinfection, and withdrawal of furazolidone from feed reduced the proportion of birds colonized with campylobacter from 81 to 7% and was associated with a 1,000- to 10,000-fold reduction in campylobacters recoverable from the carcasses. Two months after the end of the intervention program colonization of the birds returned to high levels (84%), indicating that there was a temporal association between intervention and reduced colonization with C. jejuni. Investigations continue to establish the general applicability of these findings.