Established control strategies against Campylobacter spp. infections in livestock are focusing mainly on improved biosecurity measures, vaccination trials and non-specific nutritional approaches.

However, these measures alone result so far only in an insufficient reduction of Campylobacter infections both of the farm animals and subsequently the consumers. Therefore, in this individual project (IP) various non biosecurity-based measures of keeping and housing conditions and their combinations will be evaluated for their impact on Campylobacter reduction on herd level and on individual animal level. Initially, these management factors will be evaluated in experimental Campylobacter infection experiments of chickens. Investigated factors will be: i) different stocking densities, ii) two slowly growing genetics/ breeds compared to fast growing breeds, each combined with tailored diet, iii) continuous decontamination of the air and the barn surfaces due to vaporisation of essential oils, iv) litter with decontaminating characteristics and with a reduced humidity. For this purpose, an experimental animal model with broilers will be established in the Toolbox (Z) as the in vivo platform Z1. This model is based on “Seeder Birds” which are orally infected with either one (for monovalent infection) or three (for trivalent infection) well-characterised C. jejuni strains (and in the trivalent infection beside two C. jejuni strains also one C. coli strain). Effects were evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively on group and animal levels. Induced VBNC state will be also monitored in some trials. Successful measures, combinations of that and combinations of measures successfully evaluated in the experimental infections and measures already known to be able to effectively reduce Campylobacter will be later implemented and evaluated under practical conditions in poultry farms.