The estimated public health burden of Campylobacter infection and illness in England and Wales due to consuming undercooked poultry products is relatively small, ~0.3 percent. The estimated annual number of cases of campylobacteriosis in England and Wales attributed to consumption of chicken is 175,000. Information, on consumer behavior during cooking, heat sensitivity of Campylobacter, populat...

BACKGROUND Probiotics have been used to control Salmonella colonization/infection in chickens. Yet the mechanisms of probiotic effects are not fully understood. This study has characterized our previously-selected lactic acid-producing bacterial (LAB) isolates for controlling Salmonella infection in chickens, particularly the mechanism underlying the control. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In...

The aim of the study was to determine co-occurrence of Marek's disease virus (MDV) and chicken parvovirus (ChPV) co-occurrence in field chicken flocks. The materials for the study derived from 115 broiler chickens or layer hens originated from 23 farms with suspicion of Marek's disease (MD). Dual infection with MDV and ChPV was found in 23 (20%) examined chickens. The results obtained suggest a...

Listeria monocytogenes is a bacterial pathogen capable of causing severe infections in humans, often with fatal outcomes. Many different animal models exist to study L. monocytogenes pathogenicity, and we have investigated the chicken embryo as an infection model: What are the benefits and possible drawbacks? We have compared a defined wild-type strain with its isogenic strains lacking well-cha...

The response of chicken to non-typhoidal Salmonella infection is becoming well characterised but the role of particular cell types in this response is still far from being understood. Therefore, in this study we characterised the response of chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) to infection with two different S. Enteritidis strains by microarray analysis. The expression of chicken genes identified...

This study was designed to evaluate the occurrence of Clostridium difficile in both broiler chicken farms and packed chicken parts sold at market places in Mashhad, the second most popular Islamic pilgrimage city after Mecca in northeastern Iran. The fresh faecal samples were obtained from broiler farms, while the chicken packs were purchased from retail outlets across the city at market places...

Although Campylobacter is the leading cause of bacterial foodborne gastroenteritis in the world and the importance of poultry as a source of infection is well understood we know relatively little about its infection biology in the broiler chicken. Much of what we know about the biology of Campylobacter jejuni is based on infection of inbred or SPF laboratory lines of chickens with a small numbe...

BACKGROUND Once a list of differentially expressed genes has been identified from a microarray experiment, a subsequent post-analysis task is required in order to find the main biological processes associated to the experimental system. This paper describes two pathways analysis tools, ArrayUnlock and Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA) to deal with the post-analyses of microarray data, in the co...

BACKGROUND Chicken Mx belongs to the Mx family of interferon-induced dynamin-like GTPases, which in some species possess potent antiviral properties. Conflicting data exist for the antiviral capability of chicken Mx. Reports of anti-influenza activity of alleles encoding an Asn631 polymorphism have not been supported by subsequent studies. The normal cytoplasmic localisation of chicken Mx may i...