This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bull, S. A.
Right arrow Articles by Jorgensen, F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bull, S. A.
Right arrow Articles by Jorgensen, F.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Bull, S. A.
Right arrow Articles by Jorgensen, F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2008, p. 5408-5413, Vol. 74, No. 17
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00462-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Flock Health Indicators and Campylobacter spp. in Commercial Housed Broilers Reared in Great Britain {triangledown}

Stephanie A. Bull,1,§ Alastair Thomas,2,{dagger} Thomas Humphrey,2 Johanne Ellis-Iversen,3 Alasdair J. Cook,3 Roger Lovell,2 and Frieda Jorgensen1*

Foodborne Zoonoses Unit, Health Protection Agency, School of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, United Kingdom,1 School of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, United Kingdom,2 Centre for Epidemiology and Risk Analysis, Veterinary Laboratory Agency, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, United Kingdom3

Received 26 February 2008/ Accepted 7 July 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 [CI95%], 0.98 to 2.30) and digital dermatitis (OR, 2.08; CI95%, 1.20 to 3.61). Furthermore, higher levels of these conditions were also associated with the highest-level category of within-flock Campylobacter prevalence (70 to 100%). These results could indicate that improving health and welfare may also reduce Campylobacter in broilers.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Foodborne Zoonoses Unit, Health Protection Agency, School of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 117 331 9017. Fax: 44 117 928 9505. E-mail: frieda.jorgensen{at}bristol.ac.uk

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 18 July 2008.

§ Present address: Institute of Clinical Education, Peninsula Medical School, Exeter EX1 2LU, United Kingdom.

{dagger} Present address: Thermo Fisher Scientific, Basingstoke RG24 8PW, United Kingdom.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2008, p. 5408-5413, Vol. 74, No. 17
0099-2240/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00462-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»