Predominant Campylobacter jejuni Sequence Types Persist in Finnish Chicken Production

Abstract

Consumption and handling of chicken meat are well-known risk factors for acquiring campylobacteriosis. This study aimed to describe the Campylobacter jejuni population in Finnish chickens and to investigate the distribution of C. jejuni genotypes on Finnish chicken farms over a period of several years. We included 89.8% of the total C. jejuni population recovered in Finnish poultry during 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2012 and used multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to characterize the 380 isolates. The typing data was combined with isolate information on collection-time and farm of origin. The C. jejuni prevalence in chicken slaughter batches was low (mean 3.0%, CI95% [1.8%, 4.2%]), and approximately a quarter of Finnish chicken farms delivered at least one positive chicken batch yearly. In general, the C. jejuni population was diverse as represented by a total of 63 sequence types (ST), but certain predominant MLST lineages were identified. ST-45 clonal complex (CC) accounted for 53% of the isolates while ST-21 CC and ST-677 CC covered 11% and 9% of the isolates, respectively. Less than half of the Campylobacter positive farms (40.3%) delivered C. jejuni-contaminated batches in multiple years, but the genotypes (ST and PFGE types) generally varied from year to year. Therefore, no evidence for a persistent C. jejuni source for the colonization of Finnish chickens emerged. Finnish chicken farms are infrequently contaminated with C. jejuni compared to other European Union (EU) countries, making Finland a valuable model for further epidemiological studies of the C. jejuni in poultry flocks.

Campylobacter multi‐locus sequence types and antimicrobial susceptibility of broiler cecal isolates: A two year study of 143 commercial flocks

“…Furthermore, CCs 353, 828, and 48 were the three most common clonal complexes detected associated with packaged chicken meat at purchased at retail in a market survey conducted in Georgia, United States (Berrang, Oakley, & Meinersmann, ). In contrast, the most commonly found ST CC (in order of prevalence) in Great Britain (Jorgensen et al, ) and Finland (Llarena et al, ) are CC‐45 and CC‐21; in Sweden, CC‐21 and CC‐45 (Griekspoor, Engvall, Olsen, & Waldenstrom, ); and in Japan CC‐21 and CC‐48 (Ozawa et al, ). While CC‐353 is commonly found in other geographic locations, its' prevalence accounted for only 2.2, 1.0, and 4.7% of the isolates recovered from poultry in Great Britain, Sweden, and Japan, respectively (Griekspoor et al, ; Jorgensen et al, ; Ozawa et al, ).…”

Epidemiología de Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes y Campylobacter spp., en la cadena productiva avícola

“…Aunque Campylobacter spp., y L. monocytogenes se presentaron con frecuencias relativamente bajas, debe prestárseles atención, por ser ambos agentes causales de gastroenteritis en humanos y porque en países desarrollados la campilobacteriosis ha superado el número de casos de salmonelosis, convirtiéndose en la más importante de las zoonosis bacterianas (24). Debido a sus cualidades intrínsecas, se ha demostrado que el manejo inadecuado de los productos alimenticios de origen animal incrementa el riesgo de contagio humano con este microorganismo (25).…”

Caracterização molecular de linhagens de Campylobacter coli isoladas de origens diversas

“…Ademais, em alguns países, como por exemplo a Finlândia, dados da literatura demonstram a existência de um ST predominante dentre a população de Campylobacter spp. circulante no país (Llarena et al, 2015).…”