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Seasonality of thermophilic Campylobacter populations in chickens
Author(s) -
Wallace J.S.,
Stanley K.N.,
Currie J.E.,
Diggle P.J.,
Jones K.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1997.tb03576.x
Subject(s) - campylobacter , biology , seasonality , carriage , small intestine , veterinary medicine , zoology , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , ecology , pathology , endocrinology , medicine , genetics
The small intestines and caeca of chickens were monitored for seasonal variation of thermophilic campylobacters over a 12‐month period. There was a significant seasonal fluctuation in the carriage rate which correlated with the following environmental parameters: sunshine hours ( P = 0.0003) and minimum ( P = 0.007) and maximum temperatures ( P = 0.003). The number of campylobacters in the small intestine and caeca also showed significant seasonal variation ( P = 0.0008); however, the periodicity in the caeca was significantly different from that in the small intestine ( P = 0.007). The numbers of Campylobacter in the caeca were significantly higher than those in the small intestine ( P = 0.001). No significant correlation was found between the numbers of campylobacters in the caeca and small intestines and the environmental parameters monitored.