Prevalence ofCampylobacterspp., Escherichia coli, andSalmonellaSerovars in Retail Chicken, Turkey, Pork, and Beef from the Greater Washington, D.C., Area

Abstract

A total of 825 samples of retail raw meats (chicken, turkey, pork, and beef) were examined for the presence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella serovars, and 719 of these samples were also tested for Campylobacter spp. The samples were randomly obtained from 59 stores of four supermarket chains during 107 sampling visits in the Greater Washington, D.C., area from June 1999 to July 2000. The majority (70.7%) of chicken samples (n ‫؍‬ 184) were contaminated with Campylobacter, and a large percentage of the stores visited (91%) had Campylobacter-contaminated chickens. Approximately 14% of the 172 turkey samples yielded Campylobacter, whereas fewer pork (1.7%) and beef (0.5%) samples were positive for this pathogen. A total of 722 Campylobacter isolates were obtained from 159 meat samples; 53.6% of these isolates were Campylobacter jejuni, 41.3% were Campylobacter coli, and 5.1% were other species. Of the 212 chicken samples, 82 (38.7%) yielded E. coli, while 19.0% of the beef samples, 16.3% of the pork samples, and 11.9% of the turkey samples were positive for E. coli. However, only 25 (3.0%) of the retail meat samples tested were positive for Salmonella. Significant differences in the bacterial contamination rates were observed for the four supermarket chains. This study revealed that retail raw meats are often contaminated with food-borne pathogens; however, there are marked differences in the prevalence of such pathogens in different meats. Raw retail meats are potential vehicles for transmitting food-borne diseases, and our findings stress the need for increased implementation of hazard analysis of critical control point (HACCP) and consumer food safety education efforts.

Prevalence and antibiogram study of Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus in poultry meat

“…Fernández [7] . Zhao et al reported 4.2% prevalence of Salmonella contamination in chicken meat in a similar study in USA [23] . That is in agreement with our findings.…”

“…Samples (25 g) were transferred to 225 mL of buffered peptone water (BPW) and mixed (IKA Labortechnik Germany) for 10 min at 120 r/min, the mixture sample were incubated at 37 °C for [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] h. Part of inoculated BPW was transferred to two separate enrichment media for isolation of Salmonella and S. aureus.…”

“…Bacterial suspensions were spread on mueller-hinton agar (Merck, Germany). The antibiotic discs were placed over the lawn and incubated at 37 °C for [18][19][20][21][22][23][24] …”

Survey of chicken abattoir for the presence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli

“…ZHAO et al 26 analyzed 184 samples of raw chicken meat in the United States, from which the majority (70.7%) was positive for Campylobacter spp. In Brazil, high percentages of C. jejuni and C. coli (from 25% to 50%) have been isolated from feces of healthy chickens 5,14 .…”

“…Several species of this genus may cause diarrhea and have been isolated with increasing frequency in humans, animals, food and water 26 . A great variety of species can harbor this microorganism in the intestinal tract: pigs, sheep, bovines, dogs, cats, and domestic and wild birds.…”