MANCHESTER, United Kingdom—A University of Bristol study, carried out in collaboration with the U.K. poultry industry, examining the behavior of Campylobacter in chickens, reveals that the bacteria becomes more invasive in animals that are stressed and may be associated with the release of the stress hormone noradrenalin.
Noradrenalin makes Campylobacter grow more quickly, become highly motile and invasive, leading to an increase in its ability to cause disease. The research was presented at the Society for Applied Microbiology summer conference. The results of the study provide vital information to enable the control of infection in the production environment, making chicken safer and decreasing cases of food poisoning.
