Incidence of Clostridium perfringens in Broiler Chickens and Their Environment during Production and Processing

Abstract

During a calendar year, a study was conducted involving 16 broiler flocks on four different farms, two farms belonging to each of two major U.S. poultry integrators. As determined by the detection of Clostridium perfringens in fecal or cecal samples, 15 (94%) of the flocks became positive for this bacterial enteropathogen, and only one remained negative throughout the 6-to-8-wk rearing period. Paper pads beneath chicks that were transported from the hatchery to the rearing house were contaminated with C. perfringens in 15 (94%) of the flocks. When sampled biweekly through grow out, 13 of the flocks were C. perfringens positive at 2 wk of age. These results suggest that colonization of the intestinal tract of broilers by C. perfringens is an early event. Of the environmental samples, all but feed in the hopper were contaminated before placement for at least one of the rearing periods. All sample types were contaminated at some point during the 6-to-8-wk grow-out period. Of the on-farm environmental samples, the highest incidences (percentage positive) of C. perfringens were detected in wall swabs (53%), fan swabs (46%), fly strips (43%), dirt outside the house entrance (43%), and swabs of workers' boots (29%). Birds were usually transported to the processing plant in coops that were already contaminated with C. perfringens. In the plant, C. perfringens was isolated more frequently from samples of scald water than from those of chill water. Clostridium perfringens was recovered from broiler carcasses after chilling in 13 (81%) of the 16 flocks. The proportion of C. perfringens-positive carcasses for the contaminated flocks ranged from 8% to 68% with a mean of 30%.

Prevalence and molecular typing of Clostridium perfringens isolates from edible offal of broiler

“…Similar to our study, Craven et al (2001a) reported that C. perfringens incidence of broiler carcasses were ranged between 8% and 68% with a mean value of 30%. In a different study, Lin and Labbe (2003) found out that 30% of retail food samples in the USA were contaminated with C. perfringens at different level and none of them was positive for cpe gene.…”

“…(14,25,27,32). In various studies type A was reported to be the dominant type of C. perfringens isolated in poultry diseases (especially in necrotic enteritis) and from industry, processing line, products and environment worldwide (6,17,21,32).…”

“…As C. perfringens is an ubiquitous pathogen and common intestinal inhabitant of poultry, different stages of poultry production line can be evaluated as a contamination source even starting from the hatchery. Chicken carcass and meat parts may also be contaminated with C. perfringens by intestinal contents during slaughterhouse process especially on evisceration (6,7,17,27,31).…”

Clostridium perfringensin poultry: an emerging threat for animal and public health

“…When the intestinal contents of broiler chickens are analyzed for the presence of C. perfringens, approximately 75% to 95% of the animals are found positive (Shane et al, 1984;Miwa et al, 1997;Craven et al, 2001a,b). When poultry meat is analyzed for C. perfringens, high percentages of positive meat samples are reported, in some cases up to 84% (Bean et al, 1996;Miwa et al, 1998;Craven et al, 2001a). It is suggested that colonization of poultry by C. perfringens is a very early event in the life of the animals, and can be transmitted within the integrated broiler chicken operation, starting from the hatchery (Craven et al, 2001a(Craven et al, ,b, 2003.…”

Prevalence of Clostridium perfringens type A isolates in different tissues of broiler chickens

“…Perhaps the reason for very high incidence in this study and for the difference with the results of our study is the general detection of all C. perfringens types, as we used specific primers only for diagnosis of type A C. perfringens. In the investigation of Craven et al (2001) on environmental samples collected from poultry farms, the prevalence of C. perfringens was between 43% to 53% indicating that C. perfringens is a common intestinal inhabitant. Obviously, in our study and other studies throughout the world the incidence of C. perfringens in poultry industry was high.…”