article · Frontiers in Microbiology
Investigation of Campylobacter jejuni isolates collected from avian and human sources in Egypt reveals substantial genetic diversity and shared characteristics between species. All examined strains harboured the flagellin A gene, flaA, although none carried every assessed virulence gene simultaneously. Analysis identified thirteen novel allelic variants in the short variable region of flaA. The cdtC gene showed the highest similarity across different host sources, whereas cdtB and iam exhibited the greatest variation. Strains isolated from chickens displayed the highest heterogeneity among the sampled hosts. Furthermore, the genetic patterns and sequence analyses demonstrated significant overlap between isolates from different sources, with human strains clustering more closely with chicken isolates than with those from pigeons. These findings point to domestic poultry, particularly chickens, as a probable source for transmitting Campylobacter jejuni infections to human populations.
Campylobacter jejuni is a major bacterial pathogen affecting both domestic poultry and humans. Demonstrating that human strains closely mirror those found in chickens helps public health professionals clarify transmission routes. Identifying novel genetic variants and virulence gene distributions provides baseline data essential for epidemiological monitoring, risk assessments, and designing control strategies across the poultry production chain.
The abstract describes early-stage genetic characterisation and epidemiological profiling of bacterial isolates. This knowledge could inform diagnostic developers, public health bodies, and poultry producers seeking relevant genetic markers for pathogen detection and surveillance. However, the abstract does not indicate a direct commercial application pathway or product development programme, leaving the research at a fundamental, pre-commercial stage.
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<i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> (<i>C. jejuni</i>) are able to colonise and infect domestic poultry and also pose a risk for humans. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of genotypic diversity among <i>C. jejuni</i> isolates recovered from avian and human sources in Egypt. Furthermore, the short variable region (SVR) of flagellin A (<i>flaA</i>) gene was analysed for the presence of allelic variants. Our results showed that <i>C. jejuni</i> isolates differ in their capacity to harbour each of the virulence genes alone or when present in various combinations. The <i>flaA</i> gene was detected in all <i>C. jejuni</i> strains and none of the strains had all the studied virulence genes together. When considering <i>C. jejuni</i> strains from the investigated sources, the <i>cdtC</i> gene was the most similar, while the <i>cdtB</i> and <i>iam</i> genes were the most dissimilar. We could identify 13 novel alleles in the analysed strains. The analyses of virulence gene patterns, <i>flaA</i> gene sequences and allelic variants showed that <i>C. jejuni</i> strains from different sources overlapped largely suggesting potential involvement of poultry in transmitting <i>C. jejuni</i> to humans. We also found that the strains isolated from the same host were highly heterogeneous, with chicken strains exhibiting the highest diversity. Moreover, the human strains were clustered closer to chicken ones than to those from pigeon. The results of this study should be taken into consideration when assessing the epidemiology and risk potential of Egyptian <i>C. jejuni</i> not only in poultry, but also in humans.
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DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02353
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