Chlamydia gallinacea, a new chlamydial agent, has been reported in four European countries as well as Argentina and China. Experimentally infected chickens with C. gallinacea in previous study showed no clinical signs but had significantly reduced gains in body weight (6·5–11·4%). Slaughterhouse workers exposed to infected chickens have developed atypical pneumonia, indicating C. gallinacea is likely a zoonotic agent. In this study, FRET-PCR confirmed that C. gallinacea was present in 12·4% (66/531) of oral–pharyngeal samples from Alabama backyard poultry. Phylogenetic comparisons based on ompA variable domain showed that 16 sequenced samples represented 14 biotypes. We report for the first time the presence of C. gallinacea in North America, and this warrants further research on the organism's pathogenicity, hosts, transmission, and zoonotic potential.

Campylobacteriosis is a zoonotic disease which has a worldwide public health impact. The disease is endemic in Egypt; however, the epidemiology in animals and humans has not been fully characterized. The objective of this study was to compare the risk of Campylobacter faecal carriage in children exposed to Campylobacter-infected vs. non-infected backyard poultry and to identify risk factors for a backyard being classified as infected. A total of 103 households which owned backyard poultry were sampled from a rural community in Egypt. Within these households 379 poultry and 106 children were tested for C. jejuni and C. coli; 23·5% and 5·5% of poultry were positive for C. jejuni and C. coli, respectively. In the studied households; 12·3% of children were positive for C. jejuni, and 2·8% were positive for C. coli. Using logistic regression, households with poultry positive for C. jejuni had 3·86 (95% confidence interval 1·0–15·0) times the odds of having children positive for C. jejuni compared to those housed with poultry which all tested negative. Backyard poultry may present a transmission route of C. jejuni to children. Backyards with poor cleaning and disinfection, wet litter and manure disposed of within the backyard had increased odds of being positive for C. jejuni. Enhancing biosecurity and management in poultry backyards may reduce the risk of the disease.

Indigenous women of East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India are unique in that they have over generations protected and bred the world-famous Aseel poultry and other local varieties. Birds managed under backyard systems contribute crucially to women's livelihood, and are of critical cultural importance in the lives of indigenous communities. A combination of factors has resulted in the fast decline of Aseel poultry populations in their traditional locations in the early 1990s. In the past decade, women have responded through multiple collective actions: to re-establish ecological and diverse cropping, which have provided vital by-products for feed for the poultry; apply modern and indigenous health care and management practices to prevent and control diseases; and innovate with traditional systems of asset building. All of these have helped to restore and sustain the breed, maintain livelihoods, and re-establish biological and cultural diversity.

The study was conducted to investigate the phenotypic diversity of Guajolote present in small backyard poultry operations. From September 2004 to July 2006, in 54 municipalities in the coastal region of Oaxaca, Mexico 768 “guajalotes” growers were visited. Eleven different phenotypes of Guajolote, previously described as turkey varieties, have been identified. The phenotypes identified and their frequency are: Bronze (30.1%), Black (29.0%), Royal Palm (13.4%), Auburn (5.3%), Bourbon Red (5.2%), Narragancet (2.6%), Spotted (2.4%), Brown (2.2%), Slate (1.7%), White (1.5%) and Imperfect Albino (0.2%). The remainder (6.4%) were not identified as a phenotype previously described. This is the first report about the phenotypic differentiation of Guajolote in Mexico.