Investigating the association between the caecal microbiomes of broilers and Campylobacter burden

One of the major transmission routes for the foodborne bacterial pathogen Campylobacter is undercooked poultry meat, contaminated from intestinal contents during processing. In broilers, Campylobacter can grow to very high densities in the caecum, and is often considered to be a commensal or an opportunistic pathogen. Reduction of caecal loads of Campylobacter may assist in lowering incidence rates of Campylobacter food poisoning, but to achieve this, there needs to be a better understanding of the dynamics of Campylobacter colonisation in its natural niche, and the effect of the local microbiome on colonisation.