Prevention of colonization of poultry with Campylobacter jejuni by vaccination

Project Team: Wolfgang Koester, Colette Wheler, Satyender Hansra, Shirley Lam

Campylobacteriosis, caused by the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni, is one of the most reported food borne gastro-enteric diseases in humans. Although C. jejuni colonization results in no harmful effects to the bird, the handling, preparation, and consumption of contaminated poultry is the main source of infection in humans.

C. jejuni contamination at retail is high despite farm biosecurity and processing control measures. To improve food safety we are targeting the development of a vaccine to be given in ovo  (in the egg) to prevent colonization. Current efforts focus on selecting subunit proteins and investigating adjuvant effectiveness.