Efficacy of bacteriophage therapy on horizontal transmission of Salmonella gallinarum on commercial layer chickens.
A Salmonella Gallinarum (SG)-specific bacteriophage isolated from sewage effluent was used to prevent horizontal transmission of SG in commercial layer chickens. Six-week-old chickens, each challenged with 5 x 10(8) colony-forming units of SG, cohabited with contact chickens treated with 10(6) plaque-forming units/kg of bacteriophage, prepared in feed additives, for 7 days before, and 21 days after challenge with SG. Mortality was observed for 3 wk after challenge and SG was periodically reisolated from the liver, spleen, and cecum of chickens. SG re-isolation from organs was decreased and a significant (P < 0.05) reduction in mortality was observed in contact chickens treated with the bacteriophage, as compared to untreated contact chickens, indicating that bacteriophage administration in feed additives significantly prevented the horizontal transmission of SG. These results provide important insights into prevention and control strategies against SG infection and suggest that the use of bacteriophages may be a novel, safe, and effectively plausible alternative to antibiotics for the prevention of SG infection in poultry.
Avian Disease Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, 143-701 Seoul, Korea.
Tae-Hyun
TH
Lim
Dong-Hun
DH
Lee
Yu-Na
YN
Lee
Jae-Keun
JK
Park
Ha-Na
HN
Youn
Myung-Seob
MS
Kim
Hyun-Jeong
HJ
Lee
Si-Yong
SY
Yang
Young-Wook
YW
Cho
Joong-Bok
JB
Lee
Seung-Yong
SY
Park
In-Soo
IS
Choi
Chang-Seon
CS
Song
D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000821:virology*; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D012483:Salmonella Phages / Q000502:physiology*