EP 29: Prof Brendan Wren – Why Campylobacter Never Went Away and The Amoeba Link

Campylobacter on supermarket chicken may have slipped from the headlines since the Food Standards Agency (FSA) surveys of 2014–15, but it hasn’t gone away.In this Poultry Network Podcast episode, hosts Tom Willings and Tom Woolman revisit one of the poultry sector’s biggest food‑safety challenges and ask why Campylobacter remains a leading cause of gastroenteritis — with an estimated ~500,000 cases a year in the UK and a cost to the economy of over £1 billion.Joining them is Professor Brendan Wren (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), Co‑Director of the Vaccine Centre and Co‑Director of the GlycoCell Engineering Biology Mission Hub.Brendan explains why Campylobacter is so well adapted to birds (optimum growth around 42°C), how tiny doses (around 100 cells) can cause severe illness in humans, and why the “Campylobacter conundrum” persists: the bacterium is oxygen‑sensitive and doesn’t generally spread person‑to‑person, yet seems ever‑present in the food chain.The conversation explores a provocative “missing link” — free‑living amoebae. Brendan’s research suggests amoebae can act like a Trojan horse, sheltering Campylobacter inside durable cysts and potentially making it more invasive when it emerges. If that’s true, it could reshape on‑farm thinking about prevention, surveillance and water hygiene.Key topics include:• What changed after the FSA findings — boot barriers, thinning practices and supply‑chain controls• Why Campylobacter peaks in summer (and why it’s not just barbecue season)• PCR‑based detection of Campylobacter within amoebae, and what it means for understanding transmission• Practical interventions: drinking‑water filtration, UV, improved hygiene and targeted anti‑amoebae approaches• Next steps: systematic farm sampling (including free‑range) to test the hypothesis and refine control strategiesSubscribe wherever you get your podcasts for new episodes every Friday.