Modification of Campylobacterjejuni Broiler Colonization by a Feed Additive Composed of Encapsulated Organic Acids and Essential Oils

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a novel feed additive on chicken intestinal colonization and carcass contamination by Campylobacterjejuni. The feed additive was composed of microencapsulated organic acids and essential oils （OA/EO）. The feed additive tested was provided by Jefo Nutrition Inc., St-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. Day-old birds were separated into two rooms and subdivided into two groups. Chicken were fed with OA/EO or not fed with OA/EO until they reached 35 d of age. At 14 d of age, chickens received an oral suspension of two well characterized C. jejuni strains, depending on the room they were housed in. The levels of C. jejuni were periodically monitored in the caecum and on the carcasses. C. jejuni colonization was further characterized by the use of high-resolution melt analysis of the C. jejuniflaA gene （HRM-flaA）. The effect of the feed additive was strain-dependent. In room two, the feed additive had no effect on the caecal counts. In room one, at 35 d of age, caecal C. jejuni counts were higher with OA/EO, as opposed to carcasses counts which were lower in the treated group. The HRM-flaA analysis showed that an amplification profile was predominant in birds fed with OA/EO at 35 d of age in room one, suggesting the selection of a C. jejuni strain. In conclusion, the OA/EO seemed to be effective to reduce C. jejuni levels but this effect appeared strain dependent.

Detection of Campylobacter sp. from Poultry Feces in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Background: Campylobacter contamination in poultry and poultry product has been reported worldwide. The present study aims to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter in poultry feces using selective enrichment Bolton broth and multiplex PCR. Method: Two methods were used in this study: the first was direct plating of poultry feces into mCCDA agar plates. The second, three antibiotics were used at different concentrations to add in Bolton broth supplemented. These antibiotics were Rifampicin (Oxoid, Nepean, Ontario) with 10 mg/L, colistin (Oxoid, Nepean, Ontario) with 1 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL;trimethoprim (Oxoid, Nepean, Ontario) with 10 mg/L. The colonies with typical campylobacter morphology on blood agar (little, red and ring colonies) were further identified to the species level by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: The addition of colistin (2 mg/mL) to the Bolton broth with selective supplements enhanced the selective isolation of Campylobacter strains. Out of the 52 feces samples, 18 (34.61%) were positive for campylobacter and direct plating on mCCDA 11 (21.15%) campylobacter strains (p < 0.05). The PCR results have shown that 17 (94.45%) of the campylobacter strains detected belonged to Campylobacter coli and 1 (5.55%) strain to Campylobacter jejuni. Conclusion: Although it is known to be difficult to isolate Campylobacter from animal feces samples, this study shows that antibiotic selective pressure improves the isolation efficiency of Campylobacter from poultry feces.