Author
 |
Craven, Stephen |
|
Submitted to: Journal Of Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 2/23/2000 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Clostridium perfringens (Cp) is involved in poultry disease. It is one of the most common causes of bacterial foodborne disease in humans, with poultry often the vector. Cp is frequently isolated from the feces of healthy poultry, usually in low numbers. Cp can grow in the intestinal tract resulting in the spread of large numbers of the poultry production environment. These conditions also favor the development of certain poultr diseases, i.e., necrotic enteritis. This study was designed to determine the age of the chicken that is susceptible to Cp growth and those intestinal sites that are preferred for Cp colonization. Day-of-hatch chicks were given an experimental strain of Cp and birds were sacrificed periodically for determination of Cp levels. Tissue and fecal droppings were sampled. In chicks receiving the normal corn-based diet, Cp occured in low numbers. In chicks receiving a 50%-rye diet, Cp began to increase rapidly between 2 and 7 days. This information suggests that monitoring fecal droppings of chicks around 7 days of age could be useful in determining intestinal levels of Cp before onset of necrotic enteritis. Therapeutic measures could be introducted to at risk flocks. The rye-fed chickens will likely serve as an excellent model for assessing intervention measures designed to prevent or reduce Cp colonization.
Technical Abstract: One day of hatch and one day later, commercial chicken broiler chicks maintained on a corn-based diet or a 50%-rye diet were challenged with a composite of bacitracin-resistant Clostridium perfringens strained which were previously isolated from outbreaks of necrotic enteritis. At given time intervals up to 21 days after challenge, chicks were sacrificed, and the numbers of bacitracin-resistant C. perfringens in various portions of the intestinal tract, in the liver, and in the feces were enumerated on a selective plating medium containing bacitracin. In chickens on the corn- based diets, C. perfringens was isolated infrequently from the various portions of the intestinal tract, the liver, or the fecal droppings. The number of C. perfringens CFU detected were low ( |
