Study on the effects of transport stress on fecal shedding and poultry meat contamination from Campylobacter spp.

Abstract

Purpose: Animal welfare and food safety represent major issues in the production of food of animal origin. Particularly in sight of the new criterion for Campylobacter that since January 2018 is included in the European Union food law, it is important to find new ways to reduce poultry meat contamination from Campylobacter spp., also controlling the shedding of this pathogen with chicken faeces. In particular, the aim of this study was to compare and evaluate, in function of the different transport duration, its influence on Campylobacter fecal shedding and consequent contamination in broiler carcasses. Methods & Materials: A sample of 12 flocks from an Italian poultry company, all positive for Campylobacter infection, was selected. For each flock it was assessed, before departure and in slaughterhouse upon arrival, the Campylobacter prevalence in faces using cloacal swabs. The same batches were also tested after slaughtering and cooling to evaluate prevalence and level of contamination in carcass skin. Detection and enumeration were carried out using ISO or validated methods. Results: Twelve flocks from 6 different farms, were selected. Six flocks were from farms located at longer distances (over 180 km and more than 3,5 hours of transport) and the other 6 from short-distance farm (always below 30 km). In the examined batches, prevalence in cloacal swabs was highly variable, ranging from 0 to 100%. The frequency of Campylobacter in cloacal swabs increased after transports, in particular statistically significant differences between departure and arrival were detected only for long transports. No statistically significant differences were detected in caecal contents nor on carcass skin between batches from transports of different duration. Conclusion: Although the duration of transport does not significantly affect the level of contamination of the carcasses, our results highlight that in short transports Campylobacter shedding is significantly less frequent: this could be an important information for poultry companies, in order to keep the problem under control.