Therapeutic trials with native intestinal microflora for Salmonella typhimurium infections in chickens.
Chicks infected with Salmonella typhimurium at 1 day of age were treated with normal intestinal flora starting 3 or 9 days later. Chicks were reared on the floor in isolated pens with wood shavings for litter. Cloacal-swab cultures were the main criteria for determining S. typhimurium infection. A single treatment reduced the infection period, but multiple treatments hastened the process considerably: after 6-8 weeks, birds given multiple treatments yielded sporadic or no isolations of S. typhimurium. It appears that litter from birds colonized by a protective microflora may serve as a vehicle for transmitting the flora to succeeding groups of birds.
D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D002988:Cloaca / Q000382:microbiology; D007422:Intestines / Q000382:microbiology*; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000517:prevention & control; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000302:isolation & purification