Helicobacter pullorum in Chickens, Belgium

Helicobacter pullorum is present in approximately one third of the chickens in Belgium

Extragastric Helicobacter species

The genus Helicobacter has expanded at a rapid pace and no fewer than 31 species have been named since the proposal of the genus in 1989. Of these 31 species, 22 are principally associated with extragastric niches and there is increasing interest in the role of these taxa in diseases of humans and animals. Substantial evidence attests to certain species playing a role in the pathogenesis of enteric, hepatic and biliary disorders and some taxa demonstrate zoonotic potential. The importance of extragastric Helicobacters is likely to be an important topic for research in the near future. Here, important papers published in the field this last year are reviewed

Serotype and genotype diversity and hatchery transmission of Campylobacter jejuni in commercial poultry flocks

We investigated the genotype and serotype diversity of Campylobacter coli and C jejuni in two parent flocks of adult hens and their offspring over two rotations in order to evaluate the role of hatchery mediated transmission and/or vertical transmission of campylobacters in broiler flocks. In total, 314 C jejuni and 32 C coli isolates from parent and broiler flocks and from the surroundings of broiler houses were typed by flagellin gene PCR/RFLP fla-typing), and selected isolates were also typed by serotyping and macrorestriction profiling using PFGE (MRP/PFGE). The combined typing results showed that the broiler flocks could be colonised by 1-3 different Campylobacter clones and parent flocks could be colonised by 2-6 different clones. C coli was isolated from up to 36% of birds in one parent flock, whereas only C jejuni was isolated from broiler flocks. C jejuni clones from different flocks were clearly discriminated by fla-typing as well as by MRP/PFGE, except for a few cases where individual isolates belonging to two different clones were found to have altered fla-types. Similarly, one C coli clone showed pronounced fla-type variation. The present results lead to the conclusion that vertical transmission or horizontal transmission via the hatchery are not significant transmission routes of C jejuni to broiler chickens under Danish conditions. In the cases where more than one Campylobacter clone simultaneously colonised flocks, we found that the different clones coexisted in flocks rather than excluding each other