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INCIDENCE OF CAMPYLOBACTER IN PROCESSED POULTRY: IS IT A CONCERN FOR HUMAN HEALTH?
Author(s) -
KING STUART,
ADAMS MICHELLE C.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of food safety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.427
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1745-4565
pISSN - 0149-6085
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-4565.2008.00106.x
Subject(s) - campylobacteriosis , campylobacter , biology , poultry farming , campylobacter jejuni , veterinary medicine , incidence (geometry) , salmonella , medicine , ecology , bacteria , genetics , physics , optics
In Australia, over 15,000 cases of campylobacteriosis occur annually; however, recent findings from case‐control studies suggest that poultry may not be the primary etiological agent. To determine the incidence of Campylobacter species on Australian poultry, a qualitative and quantitative survey of different poultry products was undertaken. The qualitative study examined 428 poultry carcasses from 42 processors. Overall, 93.7% of the carcasses were found to be positive for Campylobacter species, of which 84.1% were identified as Campylobacter jejuni by hippurate hydrolysis, and 9.6% as other Campylobacter species. A longitudinal study over 6 weeks on 27 broiler carcasses from a single processor found an average Campylobacter species count of 163 cfu/cm 2 , with a range of 5–1,850 cfu/cm 2 excluding one carcass that was negative. The real health risk of this carriage, however, cannot be determined accurately without further investigation of the presence of virulence factors and more accurate species identification.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This article identifies that the incidence of Campylobacter species on processed poultry remains at levels recognized to be potentially infectious to humans. This suggests that current changes in processing control in the Australian poultry industry primarily established for Salmonella species may not necessarily reduce all potential human pathogens to safe levels. Using current literature, this article also debates whether the simple identification of presence and absence of a particular pathogen is sufficient for assumptions to be drawn on risk of infection. The discussion questions the real role of poultry in cases of campylobacteriosis, and suggests that based on case‐history data, poultry may be not be the common cause of the disease.