NEWS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2025 11 MAKING DAIRY DATA WORK so your solutions can drive efficiency and sustainability on farm E. coli bacteria are typically harmless, but certain strains, known as Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC), can cause serious illness in poultry, leading to significant financial losses and animal welfare issues. New research from the UK-based University of Surrey and University of Bristol, in collaboration with Poultry Health Services, has determined why various strains of APEC behave so differently. The study, published in Virulence, analysed a colibacillosis outbreak in turkeys in the UK, and found that a strain called ST-101 was the dominant cause of the outbreak, accounting for nearly 60% of cases. This strain of APEC had not been previously reported as the primary cause of a turkey outbreak in the UK. By comparing ST-101 to a variety of high-risk APEC strains, the team from Surrey, led by Dr. Jai Mehat, Dr. James Adams, and Professor Roberto La Ragione, found that the ST-101, ST-95 and ST-140 strains were found to be better at invading and surviving inside chicken gut cells and immune cells (macrophages) compared to the ST-23 and ST-117 strains. However, despite being less effective at invading cells, the ST-117 strain was found to be the most lethal in an insect model of infection, suggesting that different strains cause disease differently. “Our research shows that a onesize-fits-all approach to controlling Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC) infections is not effective. Current vaccination strategies often target specific strains, but they may not protect against emerging APEC threats. Therefore, we need to develop new vaccines that can target a variety of APEC strains,” says Dr. Jai Mehat, senior author of the study and Lecturer in Molecular Bacteriology at the University of Surrey. Read more>> New research reveals diverse APEC threats for poultry Photo: University of Surrey
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