title: Experimental studies on the infectivity of non-culturable forms of Campylobacter spp. in chicks and mice.
abstract: The significance of non-culturable forms of Campylobacter spp., especially with regard to the epidemiology of this organism in poultry flocks, was explored. Two different experiments were conducted to produce non-culturable Campylobacter spp. and test their ability to colonize the animal gut. In the first experiment a mixture of 28 different strains of Campylobacter spp. from various sources was inoculated in both sterilized surface water and potassium phosphate buffer and stored at 4 degrees C. After Campylobacter spp. were no longer detectable by culture in the microcosms, the mixtures of non-culturable cells were used to challenge both chicks and mice. Recovery of non-culturable Campylobacter spp. from the animals was not successful at 4 weeks after administration. In the second experiment the survival of six individual strains of Campylobacter spp. in sterilized surface water at 4 degrees C was studied and the resulting non-culturable cells were used to challenge chicks. None of the campylobacter strains could be recovered from the chicks at 2 weeks after administration. We conclude that occurrence of non-culturable forms of Campylobacter spp. capable of colonizing chicks is not a common phenomenon and that non-culturable forms of Campylobacter spp. are likely to be insignificant for importantly to the epidemiology of the organism in Dutch broiler flocks.
authors.affiliation: Microbiological Laboratory for Health Protection, National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: van de Giessen
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Heuvelman
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abee
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hazeleger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000662:veterinary; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002417:Cattle; D002645:Chickens; D003470:Culture Media; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011200:Poultry; D012703:Serotyping; D013045:Species Specificity; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media