Premium
Genotyping of thermotolerant Campylobacter from poultry slaughterhouse by amplified fragment length polymorphism
Author(s) -
Johnsen G.,
Kruse H.,
Hofshagen M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2006.03238.x
Subject(s) - flock , campylobacter , amplified fragment length polymorphism , biology , veterinary medicine , genotyping , broiler , poultry farming , zoology , genetic diversity , genotype , bacteria , ecology , medicine , population , genetics , environmental health , gene
Aim: To examine the occurrence, diversity and transmission of Campylobacter in a poultry slaughterhouse. Methods and Results: During a 4‐week period, a slaughterhouse was sampled alternately during slaughtering and the following mornings post‐disinfection. Samples were taken from poultry at six stages in the slaughter process and from 25 environmental sites. For positive broiler flocks slaughtered on one occasion, 92% and 48% of the environmental sites were positive during slaughter and post‐disinfection, respectively. For positive laying hen flocks slaughtered on three occasions, 8–56% and 12–20% of the environmental sites were positive during slaughter and post‐disinfection, respectively. Genetic fingerprinting by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) of the 109 isolates obtained resulted in 28 different AFLP clones. Five AFLP clones were present for more than 1 week. Conclusions: Slaughtering of Campylobacter ‐positive broilers resulted in extensive contamination of the slaughterhouse, including the air. A high proportion of the laying hen flocks were Campylobacter positive, but these caused less environmental contamination than the broilers. This, together with the freezing of all layer carcasses, results in a lower public health risk from laying hens, when compared with broilers. Significance and Impact of the Study: When slaughtering Campylobacter ‐positive broilers, the implementation of preventive measures is important to reduce contamination of negative carcasses and to protect the workers against infection.