Abstract
Campylobacteriosis is the leading food-borne disease in developed countries, and poultry are a major source for human infection. The diversity of Campylobacter on chicken carcasses during processing may lead to isolates that are able to survive abattoir processing. This has important implications for public health and adds a further layer to the complexity of the epidemiology of campylobacteriosis. The diversity of the Campylobacter spp. populations on broiler carcasses was studied at three different stages of processing (post-bleed, post-scald and post-chill) in three UK processing plants, using the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) KpnI enzyme. One hundred and sixty Campylobacter strains from 3 processing plants were identified as C.jejuni (92.3%) with 27 PFGE subtype profiles recovered from carcasses at the post-bleed point. Change in populations was identified when carcasses move towards the end of poultry processing. Seven C.jejuni genotypes were able to survive the scalding tank stage process, and 5 genotypes surviving the entire poultry process. Confirmation by PFGE gives information on the genotypic profiles of C.jejuni on chicken carcasses and how they change according to the temperatures exposed to during processing. Diversity within C.jejuni populations produces genotypes that adapt to tolerate the processing environment, and these may be capable of causing human disease. Understanding more about the genotypes that survive the processing will have important implications for public health.
Highlights
Campylobacter spp. are a main cause of acute bacterial diarrhoea and are among the most common bacterial food-borne infection worldwide (WHO, 2020), and C. jejuni and C. coli are known as thermophilic which are the most frequently reported in human diseases (WHO, 2020)
Large numbers of Campylobacter spp. are present throughout the processing plant making avoidance of cross-contamination between birds and flocks almost impossible (Elvers et al, 2011). This explains the high correlation between poultry products and human infections (Coward et al, 2008; Stern, 2008). This viewpoint is supported by the EFSA (2011) that found more than 80% of chicken carcasses at retail sale in the United Kingdom were contaminated by Campylobacter spp
The present study has shown that the diversity of Campylobacter pulsed- field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) genotype populations on chicken carcasses through the plant slaughtering line changed as the carcasses moved through the system (Figure 7) matching the results of the previous studies of Hunters and workers
Summary
Campylobacter spp. are a main cause of acute bacterial diarrhoea and are among the most common bacterial food-borne infection worldwide (WHO, 2020), and C. jejuni and C. coli are known as thermophilic which are the most frequently reported in human diseases (WHO, 2020). Large numbers of Campylobacter spp. are present throughout the processing plant making avoidance of cross-contamination between birds and flocks almost impossible (Elvers et al, 2011) This explains the high correlation between poultry products and human infections (Coward et al, 2008; Stern, 2008). One plate was incubated at 41.5°C for 48 hr in a microaerobic atmosphere generated using CampyGen (Oxoid Ltd.), and the second plate was incubated at 41.5°C for 48 hr aerobically to rule out any possibility of the FIGURE 1 Dendrograms representing relatedness among PFGE profiles of Kpnl digests of 160 Campylobacter isolates detected on broiler carcasses in post-bleed point process from processing plants (B), (K) and (H). The quantitative PCR thermal cycle conditions were 95°C for 10 min followed by 40 cycles of 95°C for 15 s, 58°C for 30 s and 72°C for 30 s, with final cycle of 5 min at 72°C, using a
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