Campylobacter is a major cause of human foodborne disease worldwide and has been associated with the consumption of contaminated poultry. The prevalence of Campylobacter species in broiler flocks from more than 200 producers widespread in mainland Portugal was assessed in 2008 in response to Commission Decision 2007/516/EC. Campylobacter isolates were obtained from 83.3% of 424 pooled cecal samples, with a higher prevalence of Campylobacter coli (61.2%) than Campylobacter jejuni (38.8%). Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the flaA gene (flaA-RFLP) of 112 C. coli isolates and 67 C. jejuni isolates yielded 11 flaA-RFLP patterns with HinfI (Hunter Gaston diversity index [HGDI] = 0.62) and 48 flaA-RFLP patterns with DdeI (HGDI = 0.89), indicating a high level of genetic diversity. A wide geographic distribution of the most frequent restriction pattern was observed. MICs of five antimicrobials (ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, streptomycin, erythromycin, and tetracycline) were determined for 215 C. coli isolates and 136 C. jejuni isolates. The occurrence of non-wild-type isolates, exhibiting an acquired resistance phenotype, was higher for C. coli than C. jejuni for all antimicrobials tested. Sixty-three percent of C. jejuni and C. coli isolates were considered non-wild type based on their response to both ciprofloxacin and erythromycin, which are frequently used in the treatment of human infections. The high prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter strains detected supports the need for increased epidemiological surveillance and prevention in a country where large amounts of poultry meat are consumed.
The analysis of Salmonella in the feces and the birds' environment is a way of monitoring the colonization in the flocks and verifying the need for the introduction of stricter controls, in such a way that the results of the tests should be known before being sent for slaughter. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR), as well as other rapid methods represent alternatives increasingly used to detect enteric pathogens, but they need proof of effectiveness for their wide use. The aim of this study was to evaluate the equivalence between the results obtained by the methods: real-time PCR (BAX ® System), Modified Rappaport-Vassiliadis Semi-solid Medium (MSRV) (ISO 6579) and the traditional method of official reference in Brazil for research of S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis in poultry samples. Two hundred and fifty-two samples of disposable shoe covers (DSC) and 252 samples of feces were infected with an average of 2 to 3 log CFU/g of each serovar, and the same samples without fortification were evaluated by the three methods. Five hundred and four diagnoses were obtained with satisfactory results in terms of repeatability (greater than 80%), reproducibility (mean 83,1%), sensitivity (81% to 100%), specificity (95% to 100%), and accuracy (90% to 100%). The compliance test verified that there was not a significant difference between the alternative and the official methods, allowing us to state that the methodologies have had equivalent performances.
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