Abstract
Chicken meat from the shelves of supermarkets in Qatar was tested for the presence of Campylobacter spp. and the presence of five virulence genes (htrB, cdtB, clpP, cadF and ciaB) was assessed in isolates. Forty eight percent of the chickens provided for supermarkets by Saudi (53%) and Qatari (45.9%) producers were found to be contaminated and the most important factor affecting the overall prevalence of contaminated chickens was the store from which chicken samples originated. Variation in prevalence of Campylobacter in chicken meat from different stores was evident even when the same producer supplied the three stores in our survey. Differences in the prevalence and in the combinations of virulence genes in isolates that can and cannot grow in a classic maintenance medium (Karmali) were identified, providing a starting point for linking presence/absence of particular virulence genes with actual in vivo virulence and pathogenicity. Because of the relatively low infective doses of Campylobacter that are required to initiate infection in humans, it will be important to explore further the relationships we identified between certain Campylobacter virulence genes and their capacity for survival in poultry meat, and hence their contribution to the incidence of campylobacteriosis.
Highlights
Campylobacter is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in the world [1]
Several genes have been linked to Campylobacter virulence but the most important are Campylobacter invasion protein B, which is vital for invasion, cytolethal distending toxin B, which disrupts mucosal barriers by causing host cell
One of the chickens was found to be contaminated with C. coli and this was a mixed contamination since C. jejuni was found on this chicken
Summary
Campylobacter is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in the world [1]. Infection is generally manifested as self-limiting diarrhoea that lasts 3–5 days, but in some cases it may progress to bloody diarrhoea and have life-threatening consequences. An Iranian study found that Campylobacter contamination was more commonly found among raw chicken meat than beef collected at retail stores in Tehran [8]. A ban was issued and all poultry products were withdrawn and banned from the market During this period there was a 40% reduction in the number of reported C. jejuni infections [11]. We determined the percentage of C. jejuni isolates having virulence factors that might contribute to human infection and colonization of chickens.
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