Abstract:
The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in Nigerian indigenous chickens and to characterize the isolated strains using phenotypic methods and biotyping. Of the 866 samples collected 672(77.6%) were campylobacter positive. A total of 828 strains of Campylobacter spp were isolated which were identified using biochemical methods. The species identified from the study were C. jejuni 556(67.2%); C. coli 179(21.6%); C. lari 62(7.5%) and C. upsaliensis 31(3.7%). The biotyping of isolates yielded C. jejuni (biotype I, 355(63.9%); biotype II, 139(25.0%); biotype III, 54(9.7%) and 8(1.4%) for biotype IV); C. coli (biotype I, 102(57.0%) and biotype II, 77(43.0 %)) and C. lari (biotype I, 37 (59.7%) and biotype II, 25(40.3%)). The study has demonstrated the carriage of Campylobacter in Nigerian indigenous chicken. The role of the Nigeria indigenous chicken in the transmission of the campylobacter is unknown, but the frequency with which birds are associated with these organisms suggests that they may have an important role in their dissemination.
