Prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in poultry and poultry products for sale on the Bulgarian retail market

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Campylobacter spp. in poultry and poultry products available for the consumers at retail markets in Bulgaria. Samples (n = 210) of poultry carcasses and poultry products for sale at the retail market in Bulgaria were analysed for the presence of Campylobacter spp., of these 35 frozen whole carcasses, 135 chilled poultry cuts (45 wing cuts, 45 thigh cuts and 45 fillet) and 40 thermally treated (ready-to-eat) poultry products. The results obtained showed that 35.2% of the frozen poultry carcasses for sale in the markets were Campylobacter contaminated. In the chilled poultry cuts Campylobacter was isolated at the highest percentage in wing- and thigh cuts, 91.1% and 88.9%, respectively. The fillet samples were contaminated by Campylobacter in 48.9% of cases. In the chilled poultry products as well as in the frozen carcasses C. jejuni (74.8%/70.3%) was the most commonly isolated Campylobacter species, with the remainder being C. coli (25.2%/29.7%). Campylobacter spp. were not detected in the thermally treated poultry products.

Contamination of Frozen Broiler Chicken Meats with Antimicrobial Resistant Thermophilic Campylobacter in Morogoro, Tanzania

“…A similar finding to what was observed in this study was reported in Bulgaria in which 35.2% of frozen poultry carcasses were contaminated by Campylobacter spp. with high percentages of 91.1% and 88.9% detected in the wing and thigh cuts, respectively [39]. Further, our results are supported by a study done in California USA in which the authors found a higher contamination with Campylobacter jejuni of chicken wings purchased from retail outlets on the day of arrival at the supermarket [50].…”

“…Low prevalence's of retail poultry contamination with Campylobacter spp. have been reported in Brazil 47.5%; [35], Japan 45.8%; [36], Chile 45% [37], USA 41.0% [38] and in Bulgaria 35.2% [39]. Some years back Lee et al [40] showed that C. Jejuni was able to survive for up to almost two months under frozen storage at -20ºC, which is the temperature found in most domestic freezers.…”

Comparison of Cape Town and Skirrow's Campylobacter isolation protocols in humans and broilers in Morogoro, Tanzania

“…Because of wide distribution of these organisms in healthy animals, Campylobacter are ubiquitously shed into the environment, and the infections can easily access the food chain. However, activities related to chickens rearing, chicken meat processing, and consumption of undercooked meat easily predispose an individual to Campylobacter infection (Stoyanchev et al 2007;Horrocks et al 2009). …”

Prevalence, seasonality and antibiotic susceptibility of thermophilic Campylobacters in ceca and carcasses of poultry birds in the live-bird market

“…Sterile Preston broth (HiMedia, India, M899) supplemented with selective supplement (HiMedia, India FD-042) containing polymyxin B (5 IU/mL), rifampicin (10 µg/mL), trimethoprim 10 (µg/mL) and cycloheximide (100 µg/mL) along with 10% horse blood (Haffkine Biopharmaceutical Ltd, Pune) was used as enrichment broth. Then one loopful of enrichment broth was streaked onto mCCDA agar plates (ISO, 10272-1;Stoyanchev et al, 2007;Habib et al, 2011). For qualitative analysis, about 0.5 g of caecal contents were directly plated on mCCDA plates (Hansson et al, 2010) Both sets of mCCDA plates were then incubated at 42 ± 1°C for 24 h under microaerobic conditions using McIntosh and Filde's anaerobic jar (Hi-Media, IndiaAnaerobic System Mark VI, LE013).…”

“…In countries where frozen or chilled poultry is predominantly consumed, rates of isolation of thermophilic Campylobacters from carcasses were: 49.5% in Spain (Domínguez et al, 2002), 35.2% in Bulgaria (Stoyanchev et al, 2007), 44% Germany (Näther et al, 2009) and 52.5% in the US (Son et al, 2007). The rates of isolation of Campylobacter contamination are higher in countries with traditional "pluck shop" based wet markets: 63% in Iran (Taremi et al, 2006), 68.3% in Korea (Han et al, 2007) and 83.9% in Trinidad.…”