Author
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RETTEDAL, ELIZABETH - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY |
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Scupham, Alexandra |
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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 4/19/2007 Publication Date: 4/19/2007 Citation: Scupham, A.J. 2007. Effects of unique intestinal communities on the colonization of campylobacter jejuni [abstract]. Institute for Food Safety and Security. p. 12. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Campylobacter jejuni is the most common cause of bacterial-derived food borne illness in the US, causing an estimated 2 million cases annually. With nearly 90% of poultry contaminated at slaughter, it provides a significant source for this pathogen to enter the food supply. Competitive exclusion, a process in which pathogens are excluded by commensals, is a potential strategy for reduction of Campylobacter jejuni in poultry. During this experiment, groups of day old turkeys (n=4) were orally inoculated with cecal microflora taken from an adult Campylobacter-free turkey. Each of these groups was then treated with a therapeutic level of a single antibiotic (virginiamycin, enrofloxacin, neomycin, or vancomycin) to select for unique subpopulations. After community selection, the turkeys were challenged with C. jejuni. Cecal content plate counts were performed to quantify the amount of C. jejuni. The virginiamycin treated group contained 1 x 10**9 C. jejuni cfu/g in the cecal contents while enrofloxacin, neomycin, and vancomycin groups had 6 x 10**6, 3 x 10**5, and < 10**3 cfu/g in their cecal contents. The untreated control birds had 2.5 x 10**7 cfu/g of C. jejuni in the ceca. Differential microbial populations will be described by Oligonucleotide Fingerprinting of rRNA Genes (OFRG) and plate count numbers will be confirmed by real-time PCR. Preliminary results indicate that identification of communities that have both the ability to promote and to inhibit the growth of C. jejuni may be possible. |
