Defined competitive exclusion cultures in the prevention of enteropathogen colonisation in poultry and swine.

A competitive exclusion culture (CE) containing a mixture of 29 different bacterial isolates obtained from the cecae of broiler chickens was developed utilizing continuous-flow culture techniques. This culture (CF3) has been efficacious in controlling gut colonization by enteropathogens in both experimentally infected broilers and under commercial field conditions. In day-old broiler chicks provided CF3, and challenged with 10,000 CFU Salmonella typhimurium greater than a 99% reduction in Salmonella cecal colonization levels was observed compared to control chicks. Similarly, CF3 has also been shown to protect experimentally infected broiler chicks from cecal colonization by S. enteritidis (Phage types 4 and 13), S. gallinarum, Listeria Monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli O157:H7. A commercial product was developed from CF3 and is sold under the tradename PREEMPT. In a Food and Drug Administration approved, double blinded, pivotal field trial, chicks treated with PREEMPTT' had significantly fewer salmonellae than untreated chicks at end-of-growout. This product is the first of its kind available to the U.S. poultry industry. Using similar technology a product has also been developed that decreases shedding of salmonellae in neonate and weaned pigs, and also has been shown to reduce mortality associated with enteropathogens in young pigs both in the laboratory and in a commercial swine herd.