Screening of beef and raw cow milk from central Kerala for Campylobacter spp. using multiplex PCR

Abstract

Campylobacter spp. is considered one of the leading causes of diarrhoeal disease. Due to the prevalence of this organism in the gut microbiota of all warm-blooded animals, the chance of contamination is more through animal products. The present study was conducted to assess the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in milk and beef of central Kerala. A total of 200 beef and 200 raw cow milk samples were collected from various retail outlets and milk societies of Thrissur and Ernakulam districts. Campylobacter spp. were isolated by conventional culture technique on Modified charcoal-cefoperazone-deoxycholate agar. A molecular technique targeting the genusspecific 16S rRNA gene further confirmed the culture and biochemically positive isolates. The species-specific mapA and ceuE genes were targeted for C. jejuni and C. coli, respectively. None of the milk samples collected were positive for Campylobacter spp. However, three per cent of beef samples were tested positive for Campylobacter spp.