Prevalence of tetracycline-resistant Campylobacter in organic broilers during a production cycle.

Tetracycline (tet) resistance in Campylobacter isolated from organically raised broilers was investigated in this study. Two hundred forty-five samples from an organic broiler farm were collected weekly from the first week to the end of the production cycle, and they were cultured for thermophilic Campylobacter. Tetracycline resistance of these Campylobacter isolates was identified by the agar dilution method, whereas DNA fingerprinting profiles of tet-susceptible and tet-resistant strains were determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). None of the Campylobacter isolates from the third and the fourth week of the production period were resistant to tetracycline, whereas 66.7% of the isolates from the fifth week were resistant to this antibiotic. Although the prevalence of tetracycline resistance reached 100.0% during the sixth and seventh week, less than 34.0% of the isolates from the 10th week were resistant to this antimicrobial agent. In addition, only 13.8% of Campylobacter isolates from the intestinal tracts of these organically raised broilers were resistant to tetracycline. The presence of the tet(O) gene was detected in 98.9% of tet-resistant Campylobacter isolates, and tet-susceptible and tet-resistant Campylobacter strains showed distinct PFGE genotypes. The results suggest that the Campylobacter strains isolated from the early stage of the production were susceptible to tetracycline, but they were subsequently displaced by tet-resistant Campylobacter.

Comparison of antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Campylobacter spp. by the agar dilution and the agar disk diffusion methods.

The correlation and the level of agreement between the standardized agar dilution and the agar disk diffusion methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Campylobacter were investigated. A high-level agreement between the two methods was evident for aminoglycosides and fluoroquinolones, while a low-level agreement was observed for other antibiotics.

Effect of conventional and organic production practices on the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. in poultry.

Intestinal tracts of broilers and turkeys from 10 conventional broiler farms and 10 conventional turkey farms, where antimicrobials were routinely used, and from 5 organic broiler farms and 5 organic turkey farms, where antimicrobials had never been used, were collected and cultured for Campylobacter species. A total of 694 Campylobacter isolates from the conventional and organic poultry operations were tested for antimicrobial resistance to nine antimicrobial agents by the agar dilution method. Although Campylobacter species were highly prevalent in both the conventional and organic poultry operations, the antimicrobial resistance rates were significantly different between the organic operations and the conventional operations. Less than 2% of Campylobacter strains isolated from organically raised poultry were resistant to fluoroquinolones, while 46% and 67% of Campylobacter isolates from conventionally raised broilers and conventionally raised turkeys, respectively, were resistant to these antimicrobials. In addition, a high frequency of resistance to erythromycin (80%), clindamycin (64%), kanamycin (76%), and ampicillin (31%) was observed among Campylobacter isolates from conventionally raised turkeys. None of the Campylobacter isolates obtained in this study was resistant to gentamicin, while a large number of the isolates from both conventional and organic poultry operations were resistant to tetracycline. Multidrug resistance was observed mainly among Campylobacter strains isolated from the conventional turkey operation (81%). Findings from this study clearly indicate the influence of conventional and organic poultry production practices on antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter on poultry farms.

Veterinary medical education for modern food systems: past, present, and brainstorming a future.

Concepts presented here were derived from breakout sessions constituted by the 90 attendees of the Veterinary Medical Education for Modern Food Systems symposium, held in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, in October 2005. The attendees were food-animal educators, veterinary faculty, college deans and administrators, and veterinarians employed in government, industry, and private practice. Discussions at these breakout sessions focused on four primary areas: (1) determining the data needed to document the current demand for food-supply veterinarians (FSVs); (2) defining the information/skills/abilities needed within veterinary school curricula to address the current demands on FSVs; (3) outlining pre-DVM educational requirements needed to support FSVs; and (4) considering the role of post-DVM programs in meeting the demand for FSVs.

Molecular typing of Campylobacter strains using the cmp gene encoding the major outer membrane protein.

Thermophilic Campylobacter, particularly Campylobacter jejuni, is one of the major foodborne human pathogens of animal origin. Reliable and sensitive typing tools are required for understanding the epidemiology and ecology of this zoonotic bacteria agent. Currently, several molecular typing methods are available for differentiating Campylobacter strains, but each of them has limitations. Our previous study revealed that considerable sequence polymorphism exists in the cmp gene encoding the major outer membrane protein of Campylobacter and suggested that sequence variation of cmp may be utilized for discrimination of Campylobacter strains. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of the cmp-based typing tool, using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) as the "gold" standard for comparison. The cmp alleles were sequenced from multiple Campylobacter strains, grouped, and compared with the PFGE profiles of these strains using Bionumerics. Results showed that 43 cmp sequence types and 43 PFGE types existed among the 60 Campylobacter isolates. Typeability of these strains is 100% using either the cmp-based method or PFGE. The discrimination indices are 0.973 for the cmp-based method and 0.969 for PFGE, respectively. The cmp sequence types are 77.6% congruent with the PFGE types. These results indicate that the cmp-based typing is a simple, yet highly discriminatory approach for molecular differentiation of C. jejuni strains.

Relative ammonia concentrations, dust concentrations, and presence of Salmoneua species and Escherichia coli inside and outside commercial layer facilities.

Three air contaminants that may have serious health consequences to humans and poultry are ammonia, dust, and aerosolized bacteria. This study measured ammonia concentrations, dust concentrations, and the presence or absence of aerosolized Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli inside and outside five commercial layer facilities. The average outside ammonia concentration measurements decreased as the distance from the facility increased from 10 to 40 ft. The measurements at 10 ft from the facilities were consistently higher than the average concentrations inside the facilities. The ammonia measurement trends inside of the facilities were affected by the temperature-dependent ventilation systems. Average dust concentrations inside the five facilities were consistently below 2 mg/m3. Three facilities also experienced average outside dust concentrations at all measured distances below 2 mg/m3. Two facilities had relatively high average dust measurements at 10 ft from ventilation fans (32.12 mg/m3 and 75.18 mg/m3). Escherichia coli and Salmonella were isolated from the air inside all five facilities and outside the facilities up to 40 ft from the ventilation fans. In condusion, dust concentrations may pose the largest risk to human and animal health at 10 ft away from the poultry facilities; risks associated with ammonia inhalation are greatest inside facilities during the coolest months of the year; and aerosolized bacteria are found inside and outside poultry facilities, but further work is needed to quantify the bacteria to further assess the health risk related to this issue.

The effect of route of inoculation and challenge dosage on Riemerella anatipestifer infection in Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos).

Riemerella anatipestifer is a gram-negative bacteria that can cause disease in a wide variety of wild and domesticated birds, especially waterfowl. The infection can be peracute, acute, or chronic. Although various routes of transmission have been proposed, to date, there is little information on the effects of route of transmission and challenge dosage on R. anatipestifer infection. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of route of inoculation and challenge dosage on R. anatipestifer infection and pathology. To achieve this objective, one hundred forty-seven 14-day-old white Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) were equally divided into 13 experimental groups (12 challenge and 1 control group). Each challenge group had 11 ducks. The control group had 15 ducks. Four routes of inoculation were evaluated (intranasal, oral, subcutaneous, and intravenous). Three dosage levels were evaluated for each inoculation route (10(2), 10(4), and 106 colony forming units [CFU]/ml). At the 106 CFU/ml dosage level, mortality was most associated with the subcutaneous (91%) and intravenous (82%) routes, followed by the nasal (18%) and oral (9%) routes. A unique pathologic lesion was found in the bursa of Fabricius and spleen of affected birds. Within the spleen and bursa of Fabricius, there were varying degrees of lymphoid depletion and necrosis within the cortical and medullary regions. These pathologic lesions have not been previously reported in ducks with R. anatipestifer infection.

Evaluation of Pasteurella multocida isolated from rabbits by capsular typing, somatic serotyping, and restriction endonuclease analysis.

The goal of this study was to characterize Pasteurella multocida isolated from rabbits. Five hundred and fifty-three apparently healthy rabbits were sampled for this study. Nasal swabs were collected from each rabbit for P. multocida isolation and identification. Isolates were further characterized by capsular and somatic antigens and genomic DNA fingerprinting. Thirty-nine P. multocida isolates were recovered from 553 rabbits (7%). Capsular typing was done by depolymerization of P. multocida capsule by Staphylococcus aureus hyaluronidase and by disc diffusion with mucopolysaccharidase enzymes (heparinase III, chondroitinase AC, and hyaluronidase). Thirty-one (79%) of the isolates were capsular type A, and 8 isolates (21%) had untypable (UT) capsules. The gel-diffusion precipitin test was used to determine the somatic type of P. multocida isolates. Nineteen isolates were somatic serotype 3 (49%), 12 were serotype 1 (31%), 1 was serotype 2, 2 were serotype 5, 2 were serotype 12 with a weak reaction to antiserum raised against serotype 7 (5%), and 1 was serotype 4. Two of the isolates (5%) were UT. Restriction endonuclease analysis of the DNA of the isolates revealed 7 distinct profiles by digestion with HindIII, and 12 profiles were obtained with HpaII, whereas digestion with EcoRI did not differentiate between any of the P. multocida DNA isolates studied. The DNA restriction endonuclease enzyme HpaII was found more useful for differentiating between DNA fingerprints of P. multocida rabbit isolates. However, no correlation between capsular type, somatic serotypes, and DNA fingerprints was seen in this study.

Survey of parasites and bacterial pathogens from free-living waterfowl in zoological settings.

To determine if free-living waterfowl residing in a zoological setting pose health risks for its animal collections, visitors, and employees, 450 fecal samples were collected and cultured for the presence of Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., and Pasteurella multocida. A survey of endoparasites infecting the waterfowl was also conducted. Sixty-seven percent, 42%, and 1.7% of the samples tested positive for E. coli, C. jejuni, and Salmonella spp., respectively. No P. multocida was isolated from the sampled population. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for the bacterial isolates demonstrated that a majority of the isolates were susceptible to the antibiotics tested. A survey for parasites revealed 16% of the samples had coccidia oocytes; 8% of the sample had spirurid ova; and 17% of the sample had strongylate-type nematode ova. Ascaris spp. ova, Capillaria spp. ova, oxyurid ova, and mites were also noted in some fecal samples.

Four-legged broiler chicken with two cloacae and three ceca.

This case report examines an Arbor Acres female x Peterson male crossbred 6-wk-old female broiler chicken with four legs, two cloacae, and three ceca. The intestines occupied the caudodorsal portion of the abdominal cavity with three ceca attached to the terminal end of the ileum. The left lateral cecum was larger and had a divided distal end that terminated into 2-cm-long blind sacs. The rectum was dilated and divided into two cloacae that each opened on the dorsolateral aspect of both the right and left cloacal elevator muscles. The two extra legs were attached to the pygostyle by cartilage and skin tissue. Both femoral heads of the extraneous legs were fused together. The extra legs were smaller in size (approximately 17 cm in length) compared with the normal legs (approximately 22 cm). The femoral heads of the two normal legs were disarticulated from the acetabulum.

Campylobacter colonization in poultry: sources of infection and modes of transmission.

Since its recognition as a human pathogen in the early 1970s, Campylobacter jejuni has now emerged as the leading bacterial cause of food-borne gastroenteritis in developed countries. Poultry, particularly chickens, account for the majority of human infections caused by Campylobacter. Reduction or elimination of this pathogen in the poultry reservoir is an essential step in minimizing the public health problem; however, farm-based intervention measures are still not available because of the lack of understanding of the ecological aspects of C. jejuni on poultry farms. Although Campylobacter is highly prevalent in poultry production systems, how poultry flocks become infected with this organism is still unknown. Many investigations indicate that horizontal transmission from environmental sources is the primary route of flock infections by Campylobacter. However, some recent studies also suggest the possibility of vertical transmission from breeder to progeny flocks. The transmission of the organism is not well understood, but it is likely to be through both vertical and horizontal transmission and may be affected by the immune status of the poultry host and the environmental conditions in the production system. Intervention strategies for Campylobacter infection in poultry should consider the complex nature of its transmission and may require the use of multiple approaches that target different segments of the poultry production system.