Genetic diversity of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from poultry meat products sold on the retail market in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Campylobacter is regarded as the most common bacterial cause of gastroenteritis throughout the world and most cases of human campylobacteriosis can be traced back to the consumption of poultry meat. In Brazil, few studies evaluated the genetic relatedness among Campylobacter isolates. The aim of this research was to evaluate the genetic diversity of Campylobacter spp. isolated from poultry meat products sold on the retail market in Southern Brazil. The presumptive identification of Campylobacter was performed using traditional microbiological analysis, followed by molecular confirmation by PCR. The genetic diversity of isolates was analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Campylobacter spp. was isolated from 91.7% (33/36) of the samples, totaling 48 isolates. Campylobacter jejuni was the most prevalent species isolated (90.8%). PFGE data revealed 26 pulsotypes and 18 PFGE patterns composed of only 1 isolate. Campylobacter isolates exhibited high genetic diversity; however, some clones were recurrent in the poultry meat products sold on the retail market. As the south region of Brazil is an important producer and exporter of chicken meat, our results highlight the need to control this pathogen in the food chain in this area of the world to reduce the risks of exposing consumers to campylobacteriosis.

Comparative genomics of Campylobacter jejuni from clinical campylobacteriosis stool specimens

“…Poultry meat has been the predominant source attributable to human campylobacteriosis cases [ 16 , 17 ]. Further back from the direct exposure to consumers, genetic diversity of C. jejuni isolated from chicken carcasses at a slaughter plant included multiple genotypes that are associated with strains found in human infections [ 18 ].…”

Comparison of transport crates contamination with Campylobacter spp. before and after the cleaning and disinfection procedure in broiler slaughterhouses

“…In addition, there is currently no internal monitoring program adopted by the Brazilian poultry companies, which most likely explains the lack of national data ( Borges et al, 2020 ). However, recent studies have shown that Campylobacter contamination is high among broiler flocks in this country ( Würfel et al, 2019 ; Borges et al, 2020 ; Pozza et al, 2020 ; Perdoncini et al, 2022 ). Thus, control procedures during the slaughtering process are essential to avoid carcass contamination.…”

Longitudinal Study of the Distribution of Antimicrobial-Resistant Campylobacter Isolates from an Integrated Broiler Chicken Operation

“…Most studies monitoring the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter have focused on slaughterhouse and retail meat [13][14][15][16]. However, investigation covering the whole chicken production stage from farms to retail meat are still limited [17].…”