Detection of Campylobacter infection in chickens by monitoring volatile organics in faeces

弯曲杆菌感染是英国食物中毒的主要原因，每年导致30多万人生病。这些感染导致大约15,000人入院治疗，不幸的是，英国每年有近100人死亡。弯曲杆菌占英格兰和威尔士食源性疾病成本的三分之一，据估计，2008年英国的食源性疾病成本约为5.83亿英镑。鸡是人类弯曲杆菌感染的重要来源，鸡肉占人类病例总数的20-30%。在农场的鸡群中快速检测弯曲杆菌将有助于在屠宰前识别受感染的鸡；快速的现场测试将使农民能够做出明智的决定并确定最佳做法。目前，传统的生物测试需要长达7天的时间，因此农民在必要时采取适当行动的时间不可避免地会延迟。我们利用传感器阵列芯片成功检测到与弯曲杆菌感染相关的多种挥发性有机化合物。这些挥发性有机化合物的检测将作为一种指纹来确认弯曲杆菌的存在，并可以作为一种快速筛选试验。

Campylobacter infections are the main cause of food poisoning in the UK, leading to sickness in over 300,000 people each year. These infections lead to around 15, 000 people being admitted to hospital for treatment and unfortunately close to 100 people die every year in the UK. Campylobacter accounts for a third of the cost of foodborne illness in England and Wales, and it was estimated to cost the UK approximately £583 million in 2008. Chickens are an important source of campylobacter infection in humans and chicken meat accounts for 20-30% of total human cases. Rapid detection of campylobacter in chicken flocks on farms would help identify infected chicken before slaughter; a rapid on site test would enable farmers to make informed decisions and identify best practice. Currently, conventional biological tests take up to 7 days and therefore inevitable delays for the farmer to take the appropriate action if required. We have successfully detected a number of VOCs associated with campylobacter infection using a sensor array chip. The detection of these VOCs would act as a fingerprint to confirm the presence of campylobacter and could act as a rapid screening test.