Enumeration of thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. from poultry carcasses at the end of the slaughter-line

Abstract

To enumerate Campylobacter on poultry carcasses at the end of the slaughter-line, and investigate the extent to which Campylobacter from a positive flock were transmitted to other flocks during slaughter. The presence (in caeca) and the level (from carcasses) of Campylobacter were determined. The isolates were fingerprinted by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). A total of three of 13 broiler flocks and three of four-layer flocks harboured caecal Campylobacter. Carcasses from the caeca-positive broiler flocks were Campylobacter positive with numbers ranging from 2.6 x 10(4) to 2.6 x 10(6) CFU per carcass. Two caeca-negative broiler flocks, slaughtered directly after the positive broiler flocks, had the first carcasses contaminated with Campylobacter, with numbers below 2 x 10(4) CFU per carcass of the same AFLP haplotypes as the preceding flock. Campylobacter was detected on carcasses from only one of the caeca-positive layer flocks in numbers below 2 x 10(4) CFU per carcass. No Campylobacter was detected on carcasses from a flock succeeding the positive-layer flocks. Carcasses from Campylobacter-positive broiler flocks were heavily contaminated with Campylobacter, and transmitted low levels of Campylobacter to carcasses from negative flocks, slaughtered directly after. Campylobacter-positive layer flocks had low numbers of Campylobacter on the carcasses. The results indicate limited cross-contamination of Campylobacter between flocks at the slaughterhouse, reducing the advantage of logistic slaughter.