RAPD PCR Type of Campylobacter Isolates from Cecum Contents of Broiles Chickens

Abstract

In this investigation we typed Campylobacter isolates by RAPD PCR from the cecum contents of broiler chickens obtained at a slaughterhouse in Shizuoka prefecture. Campylobacter was isolated from 91 (56.9%) out of 160 birds from five out of eight flocks . Of the five Campylobacter positive flocks, three flocks possessed multiple RAPD types of Campylobacter, and two flocks possessed a single type. In the flocks where multiple types of Campylobacter were obtained, all the birds were positive and multiple RAPD types of Campylobacter were isolated from individual broiler samples. In these flocks, multiple episodes of Campylobacter contamination may have occurred . On the other hand, the three Campylobacter negative flocks were considered to have had no Campylobacter contaminations . The differences in Campylobacter colonization of the flocks in this study may, at least in part, reflect the differences in the hygiene measures of the broiler houses in which these birds are raised.