Survival in water of Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from the slaughterhouse

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni cause gastroenteritis in humans. The main transmission vector is the consumption or handling of contaminated chicken meat, since chicken can be colonized asymptomatically by C. jejuni. However, water has been implicated as the transmission vector in a few outbreaks. One possibility is the contamination of water effluent by C. jejuni originating from chicken farm. The ability of C. jejuni to be transmitted by water would be closely associated to its ability to survive in water. Therefore, in this study, we have evaluated the ability of reference strains and chicken-isolated strains to survive in water. Defined water media were used, since the composition of tap water is variable. We showed that some isolates survive better than others in defined freshwater (Fraquil) and that the survival was affected by temperature and the concentration of NaCl. By comparing the ability of C. jejuni to survive in water with other phenotypic properties previously tested, we showed that the ability to survive in water was negatively correlated with autoagglutination. Our data showed that not all chicken isolates have the same ability to survive in water, which is probably due to difference in genetic content.

Characterization of Swedish Campylobacter coli clade 2 and clade 3 water isolates

“…Most water survival studies for Campylobacter have been performed using C. jejuni isolates and survival times have ranged from 2 weeks to 4 months (Cools et al, 2003;Rollins & Colwell, 1986;Trigui et al, 2015). In several studies, autoclaved tap water has been used to obtain sample reproducibility and to avoid influence of native water microbiota (Bronowski et al, 2017;Buswell et al, 1998).…”

“…The transmission of campylobacters via environmental pathways is likely reflected by the survivability rather than multiplication of the organism (Bolton, 2015). Studies on different C. jejuni isolates have shown that the survival time in water at a low temperature varies between 2 weeks and 4 months (Cools et al, 2003;Rollins & Colwell, 1986;Trigui, Thibodeau, Fravalo, Letellier, & Faucher, 2015). It has also been noted that C. jejuni isolates derived from various sources exhibit different water survival potential (Bronowski et al, 2017;Buswell et al, 1998;Cools et al, 2003;Jones, Sutcliffe, & Curry, 1991).…”

“…It has also been noted that C. jejuni isolates derived from various sources exhibit different water survival potential (Bronowski et al, 2017;Buswell et al, 1998;Cools et al, 2003;Jones, Sutcliffe, & Curry, 1991). These differences have been suggested to be a consequence of variation in the genetic content between the isolates (Trigui et al, 2015). However, the majority of the Campylobacter water survival studies have mainly focused on C. jejuni and only a few have compared C. jejuni and C. coli (Korhonen & Martikainen, 1991;Thomas, Hill, & Mabey, 1999).…”

Campylobacter in the environment: A major threat to public health

“…drinking water, environmental fresh and marine waters), campylobacters were found to survive for up to 4 months at lower temperature (4-5 °C ) [117][118][119][120][121][122]. Temperature is an important determinant factor for the survival of Campylobacter spp.…”

“…Whereas poultry derived strains were able to survive for longer periods of time (30-52 days) in the same incubation conditions, this feature could contribute to the persistence and the spread of C. jejuni in the environment. Trigui et al [121] investigated the survival of various isolates of C. jejuni originated from chicken ceca in fresh water microcosms and observed great variability in the survivability of different strains. This variation is probably explained by the variation of genetic content between these strains.…”