Genotyping of Campylobacter jejuni from Broiler Carcasses and Slaughterhouse Environment by Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism

Abstract

We examined the occurrence and diversity of Campylobacter jejuni on broiler carcasses during slaughter of an infected flock and in the slaughterhouse environment during slaughter and postdisinfection before a new production run. During the slaughter of a known C. jejuni infected broiler flock, samples were taken from broiler carcasses at 7 different stages during the process. Thirty-seven sites in the slaughterhouse environment were sampled both during process and postdisinfection. The samples were analyzed for C. jejuni, and genetic fingerprinting was performed using amplified fragment length polymorphism. All carcass samples were positive. Of the environmental samples collected during slaughter, 89% were positive; 100% of those from the arrival, stunning, scalding, defeathering, and evisceration facilities and 67% of those from the cooling and sorting facilities. Postdisinfection, 41% of the samples were positive; 71% of those from the arrival and stunning area, 60% of those from the scalding and defeathering area, and 20% of those from the evisceration, cooling, and sorting area. The C. jejuni isolates (n = 60) recovered were grouped into 4 different amplified fragment length polymorphism clones with a similarity index of 95% or greater. All isolates obtained from the flock and 94% of the isolates obtained from the environment during slaughtering belonged to clone A, whereas 1 environmental isolate belonged to each of the clones B and C. Isolates from clones A, B, and D were present postdisinfection. Only clone B was detected on flocks slaughtered during the previous week. The high level and continuous presence of Campylobacter in the environment constitutes a risk for transmission to negative carcasses. In Norway, where above 96% of the broiler flocks are Campylobacter-negative, this aspect is of special importance. The ability of Campylobacter to remain in the slaughterhouse environment through washing and disinfection is associated with constructional conditions of equipment and buildings, complicating cleaning and providing sufficient moisture. To reduce the probability of the workers acquiring campylobacteriosis, precautions should be taken when slaughtering Campylobacter-positive flocks.

Analysis of the baseline survey on the prevalence of Campylobacter in broiler batches and of Campylobacter and Salmonella on broiler carcasses in the EU, 2008 ‐ Part A: Campylobacter and Salmonella prevalence estimates

“…This can be explained by cross contamination from positive batches to negative batches during slaughter and associated carcass preparation (Johannessen et al 2007;Jørgensen et al 2002) through contamination of the slaughterhouse environment (Johnsen et al 2006). Differences between the prevalence of Campylobactercolonised broiler batches and of Campylobacter-contaminated broiler carcasses and possible explanations will be explored further in the Part B report.…”

The change in prevalence of Campylobacter on chicken carcasses during processing: A systematic review

“…To ensure that all possible relevant articles were captured, the search strategy was verified by checking the reference lists of the 3 most recent and relevant primary REVIEW articles (Johnsen et al, 2006;Northcutt et al, 2006;Corry et al, 2007) and a random selection of 3 literature reviews (Yang et al, 2002;Oyarzabal, 2005;Hilmarsson et al, 2006). A few 2007 articles were captured in the search because, as of the date of the search, they were available online and indexed in the database before they were actually published.…”

Campylobacter genotypes from poultry transportation crates indicate a source of contamination and transmission.

“…It is known that some STs are found at a significantly lower frequency on chicken after slaughter compared to the levels in live chickens (Newell et al 2001;Johnsen et al 2006). In this study, STs 418 and 4227 were only found on crates before washing and other STs dominated at later processing stages.…”

“…The widespread occurrence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in the digestive tract of farmed chickens and the automated methods used to slaughter and present these birds to retail outlets help to explain the contribution of poultry meat as a source of human campylobacteriosis. Poultryprocessing plants have also been implicated as a source of contamination as flocks that are free of Campylobacter at slaughter may produce Campylobacter-positive meat after processing (Johnsen et al 2006). The crates used to transport live birds from farms to processing have been shown to harbour Campylobacter spp.…”