Using UV Light for Water Disinfection for Enterococci

The BroilerNet project involves a bottom-up approach to identify challenges and innovation needs for broiler farmers in Europe, and to collect promising and already successfully implemented Good Practices to meet the challenges in questions. The top Good Practices selected by experts within the three thematic areas (animal health management, animal welfare and sustainability) have been summarized in factsheets.

Enterococci are a commensal bacteria which form part of the intestinal microbiota of poultry, i.e. it is a natural habitant of the chicken’s gut. It is an economically important disease in broilers as it can cause a number of challenges depending on the specific species. (MSD)

The most common species of Enterococci in broilers is Enterococcus caecorum. The most common symptom of infection is lameness.

Enterococcus infection can often be a secondary infection as a result of an initial infection.

This occurs where the lining of the gut is weakened by a primary infection (e.g. e-coli), period of stress or digestive upset. When this occurs the tight junctions of the cell wall allow the movement of bacteria from the gut into the vascular system. This allows bacteria to travel to other areas of the body and cause infections such as lameness.