Influence of lincomycin-spectinomycin treatment on the outcome of Enterococcus cecorum infection and on the cecal microbiota in broilers

BACKGROUND: Enterococcus cecorum (EC) is one of the main reasons for skeletal disease in meat type chickens. Intervention strategies are still rare and focus mainly on early antibiotic treatment of the disease, although there are no data available concerning the effectivity of this procedure. The present study aimed to investigate the effectivity of early lincomycin-spectinomycin treatment during the first week of life after EC-infection. Furthermore, the impact of lincomycin-spectinomycin treatment and EC infection on the development of cecal microbiota was investigated. METHODS: A total of 383 day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to four groups (non-infected and non-treated, non-infected and treated, EC-infected and non-treated, and EC-infected and treated). The EC-infected groups were inoculated orally with an EC suspension at the day of arrival and at study day 3. The treatment groups were treated with lincomycin-spectinomycin via the drinking water for six consecutive days, starting two hours after the first inoculation. Necropsy of 20 chickens per group was performed at study days 7, 14, 21, and 42. Bacteriological examination via culture and real-time PCR was performed to detect EC in different extraintestinal organs. Cecal samples of nine chickens per group and necropsy day were analyzed to characterize the composition of the cecal microbiota. RESULTS: No clinical signs or pathologic lesions were found at necropsy, and EC was not detected in extraintestinal organs of the EC-infected and treated birds. Lincomycin-spectinomycin promoted the growth of the bacterial genus Escherichia/Shigella and reduced the amount of potentially beneficial Lactobacillus spp. in the ceca regardless of EC-infection. Unexpectedly, the highest abundances of the genus Enterococcus were found directly after ending antibiotic treatment in both treatment groups, suggesting the growth of resistant enterococcal species. EC was not detected among the most abundant members of the genus Enterococcus. Oral EC-infection at the first day of life did not influence the development of cecal microbiota in the present study. CONCLUSIONS: Lincomycin-spectinomycin treatment during the first week of life can prevent the EC-associated disease in broiler type chickens and has a direct impact on the development of the cecal microbiota. The low abundance of EC in the ceca of infected chickens underlines the pathogenic nature of the disease-causing EC strains. Further research on alternative prevention and intervention strategies is needed with regard to current efforts on reducing the use of antibiotics in livestock animals. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13099-021-00467-9.