Fig. 3

Route effect study design, bird weights and ST4/74 shedding results. A schematic of the transplant study showing birds given oral gavage of PBS at day of hatch and oral gavage of CMT within 4 h of hatch. Two groups of birds were given transplant in the form of spray delivery (CMT-SPR) or gel spray (CMT-SPR-CevaGel) delivery within 24 h of hatch. Time points show procedures carried out on groups; at 7 days old ST4/74 was given to one PBS group and all CMT groups with ~ 10 birds from each group killed for post-mortem analysis and collection of cecal content for 16S rRNA analysis. At 10-, 14- and 21-days old a subset of birds from each group were killed for post-mortem analysis and sample collection. All birds in each group were swabbed at 3-, 7-, 10- and 14-dpi to assess faecal shedding of ST4/74. Schematic produced using Biorender. B All birds in each group were weighed at 3-, 7-, 14- and 21-days of age. There were no significant differences between groups on the average weight of birds. C-E Results of faecal shedding of ST4/74 at 3-, 7-, and 14-dpi as measured by cloacal swabbing and plating on to Salmonella selective agar. Shedding was recorded as no shedding (ND (Non-Detected), orange), ST4/74 detected following enrichment of swab (Swab-Enr, blue) and ST4/74 detected straight from swab onto plate (Swab, yellow). Compared to PBS treated groups, CMT treated groups were shown to have less faecal shedding of Salmonella throughout the experimental period