Bacterial infections remain important to the poultry industry both in terms of animal and public health,
the latter due to the importance of poultry as a source of foodborne bacterial zoonoses such as Salmonella
and Campylobacter. As such, much focus of research to the immune response to bacterial infection has
been to Salmonella. In this review we will focus on how research on avian salmonellosis has developed
our understanding of immunity to bacteria in the chicken from understanding the role of TLRs in recognition
of bacterial pathogens, through the role of heterophils, macrophages and cd lymphocytes in innate
immunity and activation of adaptive responses to the role of cellular and humoral immunity in immune
clearance and protection. What is known of the immune response to other bacterial infections and in particular
infections that have emerged recently as major problems in poultry production including Campylobacter
jejuni, Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli, Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale and Clostridium
perfringens are discussed.