MatdovsU Norika, Olga SladU, o. Mdz, Z. MatyU and Iva Tomancova: Campylobacter jejuni in Slaughtered Chickens from the Viewpoint of Food Hygiene. Acta vet. Bmo, 61, 1992: 61-67.A total of 440 slaughtered chickens coming from 27 farms were examined for presence of Campylobacter jejuni between 1st Feb. 1990 and 31st Tan. 1991. The relevant specimens were taken from the outer and inner carcass surfaces, ileum contents, liver parenchyma and bile from groups of 10 birds each week. Isolation attempts yielded 366 C. jejuni strains. Of the 38 and 47 (10.3 % and 12.8 %) were isolated from the outer and inner carcass surfaces, respectively, 121 (35 %) from ileum contents, 92 (25 %) from liver parenchyma and 68 (18.6 %) from bile.The proportions of contaminated chicken carcasses showed two peaks, reaching 62.5 % and 62 % in Mayand October, respectively. An almost parallel trend vas recorded for the isolations from ileum contents and liver parenchyma where the highest number of strains (45 % and 30 % respectively) coincided with the May peak, whereas the highest proportions of isolations from bile (30 %) coincided rather with the second peak. The proportions of C. jejuni isolated from the outer and inner carcass surfaces were relatively low, averaging 9.4 % and 11.4 % respectively, and did not show much fluctuation. The proportions of C. jejuni isolated from bile averaged 13.8 %.In 82 (22.4 %) C. jejuni strains solitary colonies were observed also after control aerobic incubation at 42 °c, but attempts at their further passage under these conditions yielded negative results. C. jejuni carriers and shedders as well as the incidence of asymptomatic C. jejuni infection among chickens do not urge either the farmer or the veterinarian to take any measures, but the consumption of C.jejuni-infected chicken meat constitutes a major health hazard for man.
Campylobacter jejuni, slaughtered chickens, food hygieneCampylobacter jejuni was first described as Vibrio jejuni a ones et a1. 1931) and is also known under the names of Vibrio hepaticus (Mathey and Rissberger 1964) or Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni (Smibert 1974). It is a causative agent of abortion in sheep, diarrhoea in calves and lambs, campylobacter hepatitis in chickens and febrile enteritis in man.A point of particular epidemiological importance is the fact that C. jejuni can also be iso'ated from the intestinal tract of clinically healthy cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, domestic fowls, nirkeys, ducks, pigeons, dogs, cats, monkeys, sparrows, blackbirds and starlings (Smibert 1984). From the intestinal tract it can make its way to the liver and, upon evisceration, also to the outer and inner surfaces of farm animal carcasses. In the domestic fowl this possibility has been demonstrated:(1) on the outer sUrface after scalding and plucking (Baker et al. 1987) in 20 % of the carcasses;(2) on the inner surface after evisceration (Pl!gfimkova 1986, Marinescu et al. 1987 Mfl!-kova 1987) in 28.7 % to 92 % of the carcasses; (3) in the liver (Khalafalla 1990) in 40...
