Diversity of Campylobacter Isolates from Retail Poultry Carcasses and from Humans as Demonstrated by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

Abstract

Campylobacter spp. are a major contaminant of poultry. Eating undercooked chicken and handling raw poultry have been identified as risk factors for campylobacteriosis in humans. Previous studies have found Campylobacter spp. on 90% of poultry carcasses. In the present study, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to assess the genetic diversity of strains on retail poultry carcasses. PFGE patterns of isolates from campylobacteriosis cases were compared to those from the poultry isolates. Over a 1-year study period (March 2000 through February 2001), whole fresh young chickens (n = 72) were obtained from three retail outlets in an urban community in the south-central United States. Campylobacter spp. were isolated from 82% of these carcasses. Strains (n = 70) were defined on the basis of their PFGE pattern. Sixty-seven percent of the carcasses from which Campylobacter spp. were isolated were contaminated with more than one PFGE-distinguishable strain. During the 1-year study period, most of the PFGE patterns (59%) were limited to isolates obtained from a single carcass. Forty-one percent of the PFGE-distinguishable strains were recovered from more than one carcass. Ninety-seven percent of the carcasses contaminated with the same strain were purchased at the same time from the same store. To examine the degree of genetic stability, four strains were followed in vitro over an estimated 1,000 doublings. The PFGE pattern of one of these isolates underwent minor changes during in vitro growth. The data indicate extensive variability in the PFGE patterns of Campylobacter spp. isolated from humans and from poultry carcasses. In spite of difficulties caused by such diversity and the fact that some carcasses are contaminated with more than one strain, the pattern variation provides a useful method for linking a particular strain to its source.

Role of Real-Time Molecular Typing in the Surveillance of Campylobacter Enteritis and Comparison of Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis Profiles from Chicken and Human Isolates

“…Perhaps more importantly, the observation that most clinical Campylobacter isolates represent unique genotypes suggests that there is little yield to using scarce public health resources to investigate sporadic cases. Our study also indicated, as others have (2,3,6,8,9,13), that humans and chickens can be infected by related genotypes of Campylobacter. Overall, the PFGE patterns of 19 (46%) of the chicken isolates matched those of 1 or more of the human isolates.…”

Genetic Characterization and Antibiotic Resistance of Campylobacter jejuni Isolated from Meats, Water, and Humans in Sweden

“…However, recently Dickins et al (6) showed that 67% of Campylobacter-positive retail chicken from the south-central United States was contaminated with more than one strain distinguishable by PFGE. Another study recognized 14 different but closely related pulsotypes from 30 packages of Dutch poultry meat collected in numerical order directly after packaging (28).…”

Occurrence of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli on broiler carcasses after chilling in southern Brazil

“…are the causative agents of campylobacteriosis (Rosenquist et al 2003, Butzler 2004, a zoonotic disease (WHO 2000) transmitted to human beings mainly by the consumption of contaminated poultry products (Dickins et al 2002). In the European Union (EFSA 2012) and in the United States (CDC 2013) Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are often associated with gastroenteritis, and C. jejuni is also implicated in Guillain-Barré syndrome (Vucic et al 2009 Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli have been associated with gastrointestinal disorders in human beings, due mainly to the consumption of chicken meat.…”