Review of the Food-borne Zoonoses Research ... - ARCHIVE: Defra

for this organism. Research within the programme had shown that a variety of typing
methods may be used depending on the question being asked. A good routine tool for
typing Campylobacter sp. would therefore be of value to enable source attribution of
infection. Developments in genetic chips may be particularly useful in typing
Campylobacter sp. in the future. Due to the unpredictable nature of where genetic
change occurs, a chip carrying a large number of genetic elements and their variants
may be the key to typing this unstable genus.
A lot of resources have been invested in developing the MLST database. It is vital that
analysis of this database now takes place to identify the sources of Campylobacter that
are responsible for human infection. It is also important to ascertain whether the
database has been populated in an un-biased manner, or whether there are sample
types that are under-represented and need to be included.
The interrelationships between strains found in poultry units, processing units, the
environment, wild life and domestic animals is unknown. This information would help to
address the question of the contribution of contamination in the abattoir, food processing
environment, and household strains to human disease.
Reviewers noted that there are still many fundamental questions that need to be
addressed by basic research, such as the relationship between strain type and virulence
potential. Basic research is also needed to further understand the interaction between
genomics and physiology i.e. the behaviour of the organism in vitro and in vivo. This work
was considered to be more appropriate for funding by the BBSRC or Wellcome Trust.
Fundamental questions also remain unanswered in relation to the role of maternal
antibodies in chick immunity. Despite the lack of success in identifying suitable vaccine
candidates to-date, the reviewers felt that pursuing the vaccination approach was
worthwhile. They noted, however, the need to expand expertise on Defra-funded projects
to include immunologists and industry representatives with vaccine expertise. LINK
projects, where Defra and private companies share the cost of research, were thought to
be ideal for progressing research in this area.
One of the flaws in some of the research undertaken is the uncertainty over whether
enough colonies are examined to be confident that a single Campylobacter strain is
present rather than multiple strains. Reviewers suggested that a project examining large
numbers of isolates would be useful in determining whether co-infection with multiple
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