Table 5.
Prevalence of C. jejuni in cloacal swabs of all animals and counts of C. jejuni in the excreta of the seeder birds (n = 15 per group) at days 23, 32, and 38 as well as total counts of C. jejuni in the cecal content of all animals on the day of dissection.
| Diet | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP diet | LP diet | ||||
| Item | % positive | n (pos./total) | % positive | n (pos./total) | P-value |
| Prevalence on group level | |||||
| Day 18 | 0.00 | (0/25) | 0.00 | (0/25) | 1.000 |
| Day 21 | 0.00 | (0/75) | 0.00 | (0/75) | 1.000 |
| Day 22 | 1.33 | (1/75) | 1.33 | (1/75) | 1.000 |
| Day 23 | 16.0 | (12/75) | 13.3 | (10/75) | 0.644 |
| Day 24 | 50.7 | (38/75) | 45.3 | (34/75) | 0.513 |
| Day 25 | 75.7a | (56/74) | 53.3b | (40/75) | 0.004 |
| Day 29 | 100 | (74/74) | 97.3 | (73/75) | 0.497 |
| Day 35 | 98.7 | (73/74) | 100 | (74/74) | 1.000 |
| Day 39 | 97.3 | (72/74) | 97.3 | (72/74) | 1.000 |
| Day 42 | 97.3 | (72/74) | 94.6 | (70/74) | 0.405 |
| Quantitative counts C. jejuni excreta seeder birds (log10 cfu/g) | |||||
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | P-value | |
| Day 23 | 3.38a | 2.55 | 1.47b | ±2.20 | 0.033 |
| Day 32 | 5.60 | 0.97 | 5.59 | ±1.03 | 0.934 |
| Day 38 | 4.67 | 0.91 | 4.02 | ±1.27 | 0.117 |
| Quantitative counts C. jejuni cecal content (log10 cfu/g) | |||||
| Dissection | 7.94 | ±0.60 | 8.09 | ±0.73 | 0.184 |
SP diet = standard protein diet; LP diet = low protein diet.
a,bValues within a row with different superscripts differ significantly at P < 0.05.