A defesa ocorrerá no Anfiteatro do Hospital Veterinário da UFU (Av. Mato Grosso, 3289 - Bloco 2S, Campus Umuarama, Uberlândia – MG).

Abstract: Campylobacter spp. is one of the most implicated agents in foodborne infections andin developed countries it needs to be addressed as high priority on the public health hazards tobe covered by inspection of poultry meat (EFSA et al., 2020). In humans, Campylobacter bringssevere consequences for children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised ones (Ushanov,2018). Campylobacter control in the food chain, especially in chickens’ production, has becomeone of the main targets of efforts in prevention and control, but despite Brazil being theworld's largest exporter of chicken meat, information about this agent in poultry productionchain is still limited (Silva, 2017). This study comprises four chapters regarding Campylobacterjejuni in poultry. The first chapter compounds a literature review of Campylobater spp.,highlighting its significance and occurrence worldwide, the pathogenicity of Campylobacter inhumans and chickens, prevention and therapy-based Campylobacter control, as well as itscultivation and identification. Also, this chapter describes pathogens’ identification by machinelearning techniques. The second chapter aimed to evaluate the virulence and infection ofstrains of Campylobacter jejuni (CJ) isolated from chicken and standard strain isolated fromhumans to better understand the pathogen-host relationship of CJ and chicken embryo (CE)with an active immune system. We also evaluated embryo mortality, weight, gross andmicroscopic lesions, multiplication of the bacteria in the embryo, macrophage and lymphocytecounting by flow cytometry analysis, cytokine analysis by ELISA, and analysis ofhistopathological lesions. At low doses, CJ generates lesions in CE, and some strains canstimulate the immune system, but the response is strain-dependent, reinforcing theimportance of studying the virulence, infection, and immune response of several strains of Cjejuni and the CE model as of great utility. Chapter three concerns about the potential of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy associated with artificial intelligence to detect Campylobacter jejuni. Thefourth chapter describes about peptides selected by phage display as Campylobactertreatment in chicken embryos.