Establishing a campylobacter-free pig population through a top-down approach
article
Fattening pigs are often infected with campylobacter. To eliminate campylobacter from the pig population, a top-down approach, involving the breeding and reproduction farms, seems appropriate. In order to investigate the effectiveness of a top-down approach, sows' faeces from the following farms were analysed for the presence of campylobacter: one specific pathogen free (SPF) farm, three top-breeding farms with no connection with SPF breeding, and a breeding farm repopulated with SPF sows after a period of vacancy (farm 5). The faeces samples from the SPF farm were free from campylobacter. The three top-breeding farms provided faeces samples which were 98% positive for campylobacter. However, only 22% of the faeces samples from farm 5 were positive for campylobacter. In a period of 20 months, the percentage of sows infected with campylobacter on farm 5 did not significantly increase. Genetic typing with ERIC-PCR and RFLP of campylobacter isolates from one of the top-breeding farms and from farm 5 showed a high diversity of campylobacter types. The results suggest that a campylobacter-free pig population can be established in breeding farms by combining a top-down approach (campylobacter-free top-breeding farms) with a strict regime of hygiene management.
Topics
Animal experimentBacterium identificationBacterium isolateBreedingCampylobacterControlled studyFeces analysisGenetic screeningGram negative infectionHygieneInfection controlNonhumanPolymerase chain reactionRestriction fragment length polymorphismSwineAnimal HusbandryAnimalsBreedingCampylobacterDNA, BacterialFecesGenotypePolymorphism, Restriction Fragment LengthRandom Amplified Polymorphic DNA TechniqueSpecific Pathogen-Free OrganismsSwineVariation (Genetics)AnimaliaBacteria (microorganisms)CampylobacterNegibacteriaSus scrofa
TNO Identifier
71942
ISSN
02668254
Source
Letters in Applied Microbiology, 30(6), pp. 479-484.
Pages
479-484
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