U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Food and Feed Safety Research: College Station, TX
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    CareersSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Plains Area College Station, Texas Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center Food and Feed Safety Research Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications

Title:   Author  item
                                            Anderson, Robinitem
                                            Krueger, Nathanitem
                                            Genovese, Kenneth

                                                         - *Ken*item
                                            Stanton, Thaddeusitem
                                            Mackinnon, Kathrynitem
                                            Harvey, Rogeritem
                                            Callaway, Todditem
                                            Edrington, Thomasitem
                                            Nisbet, David
  Submitted to: International Symposium on the Epidemiology and Control of Foodborne Pathogens in Pork
                                    Publication Type: Proceedings
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2009
                                    Publication  Date: 9/30/2009
                                    Citation: Anderson, R.C., Krueger, N.A., Genovese, K.J., Stanton, T.B., MacKinnon, K.M., Harvey, R.B., Callaway, T.R., Edrington, T.S., Nisbet, D.J. 2009. Effect of thymol or diphenyliodonium chloride on feed intake, average daily gain and gut Campylobacter concentrations in growing swine. Proceedings of International Symposium on the Epidemiology and Control of Foodborne Pathogens in Pork. p. 246-249.Interpretive Summary: Pigs can harbor the food-poising bacterium, Campylobacter, in their gastrointestinal tract.  Consequently, farmers and processors are interested in finding ways to reduce contamination of pigs by this bacterium. Campylobacter differ from most other beneficial gut bacteria in that they do not metabolize carbohydrates but can utilize amino acids as a major energy-yielding nutrient. We have found in earlier laboratory studies that if the process of degrading amino acids is inhibited by the chemicals thymol and diphenyliodonium chloride (DIC), then Campylobacter do not survive. To test if these chemicals could be fed to pigs to kill Campylobacter, we fed growing pigs diets supplemented with or without thymol or DIC. We found that average daily feed intake and average daily gain were not affected by the chemical supplements, indicating that the pigs did not mind the taste and that they performed equally well when fed the chemicals. Numbers of Campylobacter in feces collected from pigs fed thymol or DIC were approximately 10-fold lower than in feces collected from control pigs, indicating that thymol and DIC may work well to reduce these bacteria in growing pigs. However, measurement of digestion endproducts in the gut contents suggested that appreciable amounts of thymol and DIC may have been absorbed. These results indicate that better feeding strategies will need to be developed in order to optimize the Campylobacter-controlling effect of these chemicals. Ultimately, these results will help farmers and processors find new and more economical methods to grow and produce healthy, nutritious, and safe pork products at less cost for the American consumer.
                                Technical Abstract: Food-producing animals can be reservoirs of Campylobacter, a leading bacterial cause of human foodborne illness. Campylobacter differ from most other gut bacteria in that they do not ferment carbohydrates but can utilize amino acids as major energy substrates, a process that can be inhibited by thymol and diphenyliodonium chloride (DIC). To evaluate palatability issues pertaining to feeding thymol or DIC, growing pigs were provided ad libitum access to standard growing diets supplemented with or without 0.0067% or 0.0201% thymol, or 0.00014% or 0.00042% DIC in a replicated study design (n= 4 pens per treatment per replicate, 2 pigs/pen). The diets were offered 2X/day for 7 days, during which time average daily feed intake (2.39 ± 0.06 kg d**-1; mean ± SEM) and average daily gain (0.62 ± 0.04 kg d**-1) were not affected (P > 0.05) by treatment. A trend was observed (P = 0.07) for the 3X levels of thymol and DIC to reduce rectal Campylobacter concentrations (5.2 versus 4.2 and 4.4 log10 CFU g**-1 contents for controls and thymol or DIC, respectively; SEM = 0.26). However, no effect (P > 0.05) of treatment was observed on ileal or cecal Campylobacter (1.6 ± 0.17 and 4.5 ± 0.26 log10 CFU g**-1, respectively) or on cecal total cultureable anaerobes (9.8 ± 0.10 log10 CFU g**-1). Moreover, treatment effects were not observed (P > 0.05) on accumulations of the major fermentation end products within collected gut contents. These results suggest that appreciable quantities of thymol and DIC were absorbed or degraded in the proximal alimentary tract and that encapsulation technologies will be needed to deliver effective concentrations of these compounds to the lower gut to achieve in vivo efficacy against Campylobacter.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov