Effects of a probiotic strain of Enterococcus faecium on the rate of natural chlamydia infection in swine.

ABSTRACT: Chlamydiae are obligately intracellular pathogens which cause infections associated with a broad range of diseases in both livestock and humans. In addition, a large proportion of animals may become persistently infected asymptomatic carriers and serve as reservoirs for other animals which also shed these potential zoonotic pathogens. Reducing the chlamydial load of animals is therefore of major importance, and since large-scale antibiotic treatment is neither desired nor feasible, alternative means of prevention are needed. Here we performed a study comparing the efficacy of a probiotic strain of Enterococcus faecium on the reduction of both the rate of natural infection and the shedding of chlamydiae in swine. The presence of Chlamydiaceae was detected by species-specific PCR of fecal sa

SUBMITTER: Pollmann M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1168572 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature