Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli are the most common food-borne bacterial pathogens affecting humans in developed countries. Little is known about the ecology of this pathogen; it is generally believed that a farm surrounding is an important source of contamination. Previously, house flies were shown to transmit C. jejuni from infected chicken flocks to pathogen-free chickens under laboratory conditions. In this study, we have examined prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in the digestive tract of 511 house flies collected from turkey and hog farms. Isolates were cultured on Campylobacter Charcoal Desoxylate agar (CCDA), isolated on Remel Blood agar, and speciated by PCR of the ceuE-gene (C. coli) and the hip-gene (C. jejuni). Genotypic diversity of isolates was assessed by PCR/RFLP of the flagellin gene (fla-typing). All isolates were screened for sensitivity to tetracycline, streptomycin, ampicillin, erythromycin, azithromycin, kanamycin, nalidixic acid, and ciproflaxin. In addition, the vector competence of house flies (the retention time of the pathogen on the surface and in the digestive tract) for C. jejuni and C. coli was assessed under laboratory conditions. Our results indicate that house flies play an important role in the epidemiology of Campylobacter spp. in animal production systems.
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