Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes are important bacterial pathogens associated with gastroenteritis. The consumption of poultry meat and their products is considered as a major and leading source of human infection. While surveys of chicken meat and products, and its association with foodborne pathogens are widely available, such information on ducks is scarce. This survey examines the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter, Salmonella and L. monocytogenes isolated from ducks. Data obtained from key surveys are summarized. The observed prevalence of these pathogens and their resistance to various antibiotics varies from one study to the other. The mean prevalence (and range means from individual surveys) are duck 53.0% (0.0-83.3%), duck meat and parts 31.6% (12.5-45.8%), and duck rearing and processing environment 94.4% (92.0-96.7%) for Campylobacter spp. For Salmonella spp., the mean prevalence data are duck 19.9% (3.3-56.9%), duck meat and parts 28.4% (4.4-75.6%), duck egg, shell, and content 17.5% (0-4.17%), and duck rearing and processing environment 32.5% (10.5-82.6%). Studies on the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of L. monocytogenes in ducks are by far very rare compared to Campylobacter and Salmonella, although ducks have been noted to be a potential source for these foodborne pathogens. From our survey, ducks were more frequently contaminated with Campylobacter than Salmonella. Campylobacter and Salmonella spp. also exhibited varying resistance to multiple antibiotics.
Salmonella species are important foodborne pathogens that can cause illness and death in humans. The objective of this study was to determine the genetic relatedness of 115 Salmonella strains isolated from ducks and their environment using random amplified polymorphic deoxyribonucleic acid (RAPD). The analysis of Salmonella strains by RAPD produced DNA fingerprints of different sizes for differentiation purposes, and cluster analysis at a coefficient of 0.85 grouped the Salmonella strains into various clusters and singletons. S. Typhimurium were grouped into nine clusters and ten singletons, S. Hadar were grouped into seven clusters and nine singletons, S. Enteritidis were grouped into four clusters and five singletons, S. Braenderup were grouped into five clusters and four singletons, S. Albany were grouped into two clusters and seven singletons, and S. Derby were grouped into two clusters and four singletons at a coefficient of 0.85 with discriminatory index (D) ranging from 0.879 to 0.957. With the exception of S. Typhimurium strains which were grouped into three major groups (genotypes) by RAPD analysis, the rest were grouped into two major genotypes. RAPD was a useful genotyping tool for determining the genetic relatedness of the duck Salmonella strains. Comparison of the genetic relatedness among foodborne pathogens and their sources of isolation are important to trace their source and possibly the source of human infection.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13205-013-0115-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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