Prevention and control of campylobacter infections: A "One Health" approach
Objective of the consortium
The increasing number of reported cases of campylobacteriosis in humans highlights the need to develop new strategies for the prevention, control and treatment of campylobacter infections.
Within the One-Health approach, the overall goal of the PAC Campy Consortium is to reduce the exposure of food to Campylobacter and the incidence of Campylobacter infection in humans.
To achieve the consortium's goal, the consortium is divided into four coordinated research complexes, which are divided into two closely related and complementary research priorities.
Research focus
The first research focus investigates the efficiency and practical implementation of intervention strategies along the food chain in poultry products. Here, the focus is on primary production to reduce colonisation of poultry, limit its spread and subsequently reduce Campylobacter contamination in chicken meat. Based on these data, a risk intervention model simulating the effects of specific interventions will be tested under field conditions to provide efficient intervention measures to public health services and industry.
The relevant scientific data from these integrative research activities will contribute to a better understanding of the epidemiological role of the environment in the tenacity and survival of Campylobacter along the food chain.
In the second line of research, infection models in the mouse and in vitro assays will be used in a complementary way to develop innovative therapeutic approaches to control infections in humans at the preclinical level. The innovations from both research complexes are usefully complemented by the identification of molecular markers to support outbreak studies and the improvement of source attribution models.
Research complexes
The work of the consortium is structured in research complexes, each of which is carried out by several individual project partners. These partners contribute with different tasks to the respective research complexes:
A. Intervention strategies
B. Therapeutic approaches / bacteria-host interactions
C. Diagnostics
D. Survival outside the host
Coordination
Prof. Dr. med. vet. Thomas Alter
Institute of Food Safety and Food Hygiene
Berlin
E-Mail: thomas.alter(at)fu-berlin.de
Tel. +49 (0)30 838 62560
Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Stefan Bereswill
Charité, Institute of Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology
Berlin
E-Mail: stefan.bereswill(at)charite.de
Tel. +49 (0)30 450 524 318
- Dr. Anika Friese / Prof. Dr. Uwe Rösler, Institut für Tier- und Umwelthygiene, Freie Universität Berlin
- Dr. Greta Gölz / Prof. Dr. Thomas Alter, Institut für Lebensmittelsicherheit und –hygiene, Freie Universität Berlin
- Dr. Kerstin Stingl, Nationales Referenzlabor (NRL) Campylobacter, Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR), Berlin
- Dr. Sophie Kittler / Dr. Felix Reich / Prof. Dr. Corinna Kehrenberg, Institut für Lebensmittelqualität und –sicherheit, Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover
- Dr. Michael Südbeck, Lohmann & Co. AG
- PD Dr. Markus M. Heimesaat / Prof. Dr. Stefan Bereswill, Institut für Mikrobiologie und Hygiene, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
- PD Dr. Roland Bücker / Prof. Dr. Jörg Schulzke, Institut für Klinische Physiologie, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
- Prof. Dr. Steffen Backert, Department Biologie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen
- PD Dr. Roswitha Merle, Institut für Veterinärepidemiologie und Biometrie, Freie Universität Berlin
- Torsten Semmler, Junior Research Group Microbial Genomics, Robert Koch Institut, Berlin
To intensify national and international networking, associated partners were actively involved, further strengthening the consortium with their advisory expertise and practical support.
Associated partners:
- Dr. Bettina Rosner, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin
- Dr. Monika Matt, AGES, Österreich
- Dr. Thomas Janning, Zentralverband der Deutschen Geflügelwirtschaft e. V., Berlin
- Dr. Martin Eisenblätter, Synlab Berlin-Brandenburg, Berlin
- Dr. Christine Bauermann, MVZ Labor Limbach Berlin
- Prof. Dr. Ralf Ignatius, Labor 28 GmbH, Berlin
- Dr. Klaus Pietsch, CVUA, Freiburg
- Dr. Stefan Hertwig, Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, Berlin
- Dr. Niels Bandick, Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung, Berlin
- Prof. Dr. Xiaonan Lu, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Kanada
- Prof. Dr. Georgina Hold, University of Aberdeen, Schottland, UK
- Dr. Ingrid Huber / Dr. Ute Messelhäußer, LGL, Oberschleißheim