{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,8]],"date-time":"2026-05-08T17:24:58Z","timestamp":1778261098689,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,18]],"date-time":"2024-01-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1705536000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003130","name":"Research Foundation Flanders","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1S67121N"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1S67121N"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003130","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003130","name":"Research Foundation Flanders","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["GS181005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GS181005"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003130","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"the EUREKA Office (Brussels, Belgium) and RVO (The Netherlands) GlobalStars Grant","award":["1S67121N"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1S67121N"]}]},{"name":"the EUREKA Office (Brussels, Belgium) and RVO (The Netherlands) GlobalStars Grant","award":["GS181005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GS181005"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Chlamydia psittaci, Chlamydia gallinacea, and Chlamydia abortus are the most common Chlamydia spp. in chickens and have a confirmed or suggested zoonotic potential. No recent data are available on their prevalence and impact in the Belgian chicken industry or in the recreational chicken branch. Therefore, a cross-sectional epidemiological study was executed where samples were collected from both factory-farmed and backyard chickens. More specifically, pharyngeal chicken swabs were obtained from 20 chicken farms, 5 chicken abattoirs, and 38 different backyard locations and were analyzed using species-specific Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCRs) for the presence of the three avian Chlamydia spp. To investigate their zoonotic potential, samples were simultaneously collected from 54 backyard chicken caretakes and 37 professional chicken caretakers or abattoir employees and analyzed using species-specific PCRs as well. This study confirmed the presence of DNA of all three Chlamydia species in both the chicken industry and backyard settings. Chlamydia psittaci was the most prevalent in the industry chickens (11.0%), whereas Chlamydia gallinacea was the dominant species in the backyard chickens (14.5%). Chlamydia abortus infections were more common in the commercial chickens (9.0%) compared to the backyard chickens (2.6%). The DNA of all three species was also detected in humans (3.9% Chlamydia psittaci, 2.9% Chlamydia gallinacea, and 1.0% Chlamydia abortus).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12010193","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,18]],"date-time":"2024-01-18T03:50:56Z","timestamp":1705549856000},"page":"193","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Belgian Cross-Sectional Epidemiological Study on Zoonotic Avian Chlamydia spp. in Chickens"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9474-4411","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anne","family":"De Meyst","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0958-747X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pieter","family":"De Clercq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jelmer","family":"Porrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2017-3545","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tom","family":"Geens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research and Analytics, Liantis, 8200 Bruges, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6016-8134","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lutgart","family":"Braeckman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sander","family":"Ouburg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research & Development, Microbe&Lab BV, 1105 AG Amsterdam, The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Servaas A.","family":"Morr\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research & Development, Microbe&Lab BV, 1105 AG Amsterdam, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, GROW School for Oncology and Reproduction, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Dutch <i>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/i> Reference Laboratory, Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Health, Medicine & Life Sciences, Maastricht University, 6229 ER Maastricht, The Netherlands"},{"name":"Department of Molecular and Cellular Engineering, Jacob Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad 211007, Uttar Pradesh, India"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Daisy","family":"Vanrompay","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"STATBEL (2023, July 07). 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