Antibody response to Salmonella: its induction and role in protection against avian enteric salmonellosis.

Human enteritis resulting from the consumption of poultry products contaminated with serovars of Salmonella enterica remains a major public-health concern. Reducing food contamination by preventing or controlling infection in the chicken during rearing is an attractive solution. An accurate understanding of the mechanisms of immunity to Salmonella infection in the chicken will help to focus the development of vaccines for birds and prevent contaminated products from entering the human food chain. Infection is primarily restricted to the intestinal lumen when chickens are infected with S. enterica serovars Typhimurium or Enteritidis, where they persist for many weeks. High titers of Salmonella-specific antibodies are observed following infection and demonstrate a high degree of cross-reactivity against other serovars. However, depletion of B cells and, therefore, removal of the capacity for antibody production in the chicken does not exacerbate the infection following either primary or secondary challenge.