Broiler health status has a major negative impact on broiler flock contamination with Campylobacter spp. in Lithuania (original) (raw)
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Correlations between Campylobacter spp. prevalence in the environment and broiler flocks
Journal of applied microbiology, 2007
To investigate (i) possible correlations between the presence of Campylobacter spp. in the surroundings of broiler farms and their incidence in flocks, and (ii) possible associations between weather conditions and the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. Farms were selected according to previous results from the Swedish Campylobacter programme. Samples were collected in and around broiler houses during the rearing period from 131 flocks on 31 farms, including sock samples from the ground outside, from the floor in the broiler houses and anterooms, and samples from insects, water, feed and ventilation shafts. As expected, there was a difference in Campylobacter isolation rates for different categories of farms regarding samples taken in the houses. However, there were no differences regarding the presence of Campylobacter spp. in the environment between producers that often deliver Campylobacter-positive slaughter batches and those that rarely deliver positive batches. Campylobacter spp....
Risk Factors Associated with the Presence of Campylobacter Species in Norwegian Broiler Flocks
Poultry Science, 2008
A case-control study was conducted in 2005 to identify risk factors for the presence of Campylobacter spp. in Norwegian broiler flocks. A total of 131 broiler farms (44 cases and 87 controls) were included in the study, and 1 flock from each farm was included in the statistical analyses. Data on farm and flock level were collected by means of a questionnaire designed for the present study. The relationship and strength of association between the presence of Campylobacter spp. in the broiler flocks and several factors were in-vestigated by unconditional logistic regression. The following factors were found to be associated with an increased risk of testing positive for Campylobacter spp.: water from a private water source, swine holdings closer than 2 km, a specific slaughterhouse, a hired animal caretaker, transport personnel passing through the hygiene barrier when delivering day-old chickens, less than 9 d between depopulation and restocking, and multiple broiler houses on the farm.
Comparison of Campylobacter spp. and flock health indicators of broilers in Iceland
Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine
Introduction. The safety of poultry meat products and contamination with microorganisms is based on appropriate reduction of the presence of pathogens during poultry rearing and is closely related to the level of rearing hygiene, including the type of housing, stocking density, microclimate, sanitation and ventilation. Objective. The aim of the study is to evaluate the prevalence of Campylobacter-positive samples in Iceland during 2016-2018, and to compare the potential influence of individual parameters of welfare on the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. Materials and method. Positivity of excrement and caecum samples for Campylobacter spp. was determined according to ISO 10272-1: 2006 and 2017. Data of welfare indicators were collected during the rearing period and in the slaughterhouse. Results. Considerable seasonality was observed in the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. The prevalence of campylobacteriosis on the investigated broiler farms was significantly higher (p˂0.05) during the summer. Comparison of welfare parameters on Campylobacter-positive and Campylobacter-negative farms failed to indicate a significantly higher level of observed welfare indicators in birds from Campylobacter-positive farms (p˃0.05). In comparing small, medium and big farms, a significantly higher occurrence was observed (p<0.05) of the FPD score over 40, stocking density, and the average slaughter weight, and percentage of mortality over 2% in small farms. Conclusions. Intensive management and the environment affect the welfare of poultry and its resistance to infections (Campylobacteriosis) and thus increase the health risk. Checking the welfare parameters in a slaughter house provides delayed improvement of the environment on farms, but it can also lead to changes in the following production cycles (decreasing of stocking density).
International Journal of Food Microbiology, 2011
Campylobacter species are among the most common bacterial causes of human gastroenteritis in many countries, and poultry meat is considered as a major source of human campylobacteriosis. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of infection by Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in broiler flocks in Shiraz and to investigate the possible risk factors for the campylobacter infections in this area. For detection of campylobacter, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) was used. Between August and September 2009, a total of 100 broiler flocks from 100 commercial broiler farms were selected at slaughter and campylobacter status was determined by mPCR on caecal samples. Data about farms and flocks were collected by questionnaires. Approximately 76% (95% CI: 67-84%) of the flocks were positive for C. jejuni or C. coli. Twenty two percent were positive for C. jejuni, 32% for C. coli and 22% for both species. Results of the statistical analysis using multivariable logistic regression showed that the odds of flock infection decreased when level of owner's education (years) increased (OR = 0.86, P = 0.04), also odds of infection was nearly five times higher when age at slaughter was ≥ 45 days compared with b 45 days (OR = 5.3, P = 0.003) and use of antibiotic medications at early stage of production period was negatively associated with the infection status of the flock (OR = 0.33, OR = 0.059). We found no evidence of the effects of any other factors such as time interval between successive flocks, hygiene measures and number of broiler houses on the farm on the prevalence of campylobacter infection. Getting more attention to the health education issues and planning qualitative studies to reveal the behavioral aspects of the management policy, may be subjects of interest for future researches.
Flock Health Indicators and Campylobacter spp. in Commercial Housed Broilers Reared in Great Britain
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2008
This study investigated the relationship between flock health and Campylobacter infection of housed commercial broilers in Great Britain. Thirty ceca were collected at slaughter from batches of broilers from 789 flocks, at either full or partial depopulation, between December 2003 and March 2006 and examined individually for Campylobacter by direct plating onto selective media. Management and health data were collected from each flock and included information on mortality or culling during rearing, the number of birds rejected for infectious or noninfectious causes at slaughter, the proportion of birds with digital dermatitis (also termed hock burn), and other general characteristics of the flock. Campylobacter spp. were isolated from 280 (35%) flocks. The relationship between bird health and welfare and Campylobacter status of flocks was assessed using random-effects logistic regression models, adjusting for region, month, year, and rearing regime. Campylobacter-positive batches of ceca were associated with higher levels of rejection due to infection (odds ratio [OR], 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI 95% ], 0.98 to 2.30) and digital dermatitis (OR, 2.08; CI 95% , 1.20 to 3.61). Furthermore, higher levels of these conditions were also associated with the highest-level category of withinflock Campylobacter prevalence (70 to 100%). These results could indicate that improving health and welfare may also reduce Campylobacter in broilers.
Campylobacter spp. in conventional broiler flocks in Northern Ireland: Epidemiology and risk factors
Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 2008
Risk factors for Campylobacter infection in conventional broiler flocks in the time period up to the first removal of birds to slaughter were investigated over a maximum of five consecutive production cycles in a cohort of 88 broiler farms in Northern Ireland. Samples for Campylobacter culture, which consisted of 14 cloacal swabs per flock, were collected from one house on each farm prior to the first depopulation of birds. In total 388 flocks were sampled, of which 163 tested positive for Campylobacter spp. (42.0%; 95% CI 35.1-48.9%).
Risk factors and likelihood of Campylobacter colonization in broiler flocks
Brazilian Journal of Poultry Science, 2007
Campylobacter was investigated in cecal droppings, feces, and cloacal swabs of 22 flocks of 3 to 5 week-old broilers. Risk factors and the likelihood of the presence of this agent in these flocks were determined. Management practices, such as cleaning and disinfection, feeding, drinkers, and litter treatments, were assessed. Results were evaluated using Odds Ratio (OR) test, and their significance was tested by Fisher's test (p<0.05). A Campylobacter prevalence of 81.8% was found in the broiler flocks (18/22), and within positive flocks, it varied between 85 and 100%. Campylobacter incidence among sample types was homogenous, being 81.8% in cecal droppings, 80.9% in feces, and 80.4% in cloacal swabs (230). Flocks fed by automatic feeding systems presented higher incidence of Campylobacter as compared to those fed by tube feeders. Litter was reused in 63.6% of the farm, and, despite the lack of statistical significance, there was higher likelihood of Campylobacter incidence when litter was reused. Foot bath was not used in 45.5% of the flocks, whereas the use of foot bath associated to deficient lime management increased the number of positive flocks, although with no statiscal significance. The evaluated parameters were not significantly associated with Campylobacter colonization in the assessed broiler flocks.
Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli colonise many animals, but appear to have evolved for optimal growth in the avian gut as commensal. In Italy prevalence of Campylobacter in broilers and pathogen mean count per carcass have been estimated. However, any data is available for broilers reared using different production systems. The aims of this work were to compare the Campylobacter prevalence on 184 caecum contents collected from broilers reared in 26 intensive (N=129) and 11 extensive (N=55) farms, as well as the Campylobacter species colonising those broilers. Prevalence of Campylobacter positive farms were 96.15 and 90.9% for intensive and extensive houses, respectively. Overall, 94.56% of the caecum samples were positive. The percentages of positive samples detected among caeca collected from broilers reared in intensive and extensive farms did not showed any statistically significative difference (96.09 vs 90.90%). Animal skin colour and gender influenced the percentage of positive caeca collected from broilers reared differently, whereas ventilation type as well as animal strain did not. All isolates collected were identified as Campylobacter by mPCR. In particular, 49.1% were classified as C. jejuni, 36.4% as C. coli and 14.5% as mix cultures of both species. C. coli represented the prevalent species in broilers reared in intensive farms, whereas C. jejuni in extensive farms. Animal skin colour, gender and strains as well as ventilation type influenced the species distribution on broilers reared in extensive farms. This study was financed within the EC FP6 POULTRYFLORGUT project FOOD-CT-200X-007076 (www.poultryflorgut.org).
Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 2012
Campylobacteriosis is the most frequently reported zoonosis in the EU. A recent report states that between 50% and 80% of the human campylobacteriosis cases could be attributed to broiler as a reservoir. The current study was conducted to investigate associations between the presence of Campylobacter spp. in Norwegian broiler flocks and factors related to the climate and the farm environment. Data from 18,488 broiler flocks from 623 different farms during 2002-2007 were included in the study. A logistic regression analysis was conducted where Campylobacter spp. status of a broiler flock at the time of slaughter was defined as the dependent variable and farm was modelled as a random effect. The following factors were found to increase the probability for a broiler flock to test positive for Campylobacter spp.: daily mean temperature above 6 • C during the rearing period, private water supply, presence of other livestock farms within a distance of 2 km, presence of other broiler farms within a distance of 4 km with flocks positive for Campylobacter spp. within 30 days prior to slaughter, heavy rainfall 11-30 days prior to slaughter, region and year. Daily mean temperature below 0 • C reduced the probability. The study emphasises the importance of the farm environment and the climate for the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in broiler flocks. The farm environment is probably a part of the Campylobacter spp. pathway into and between broiler flocks where farmyard runoff and humans or flies entering the houses might constitute vehicles transporting the organism. Fly activity is temperaturedriven and flies might be a part of the explanation of the increased risk for Campylobacter spp. related to increased temperature demonstrated in the study.
PLoS ONE, 2011
Campylobacter successfully colonizes broiler chickens, but little is known about the longer term natural history of colonization, since most flocks are slaughtered at an immature age. In this study, the prevalence and genetic diversity of Campylobacter colonizing a single free-range broiler breeder flock was investigated over the course of a year. The age of the flock was the most important factor in determining both the prevalence and diversity of Campylobacter over time. There was no correlation with season, temperature, the amount of rain and sunshine, or the dynamics of colonization amongst geographically and temporally matched broiler flocks. The higher prevalence rates coincided with the age at which broiler chickens are typically slaughtered, but then in the absence of bio-security or other intervention methods, and despite changes in flock management, the prevalence fell to significantly lower levels for the remainder of the study. The genetic diversity of Campylobacter increased as the flock aged, implying that genotypes were accumulated within the flock and may persist for a long time. A better understanding of the ecology of Campylobacter within commercial chicken flocks will allow the design of more effective farm-based interventions.