Occurrence of Erysipelothrix spp. in chicken meat parts from a processing plant.
From March 1996 to March 1997, 153 domestic raw chicken meat samples, including 71 thigh, 50 outer breast muscle, and 32 white meat samples, from a processing plant located in a chicken abattoir in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, were examined for the presence of Erysipelothrix spp. Erysipelothrix spp. were isolated from 49 (30.0%) of the 153 chicken meat samples. Of 67 Erysipelothrix isolates, 65 and 2 isolates were identified as E rhusiopathiae and E. tonsillarum. E. rhusiopathiae and E. tonsillarum isolates were serotyped into 11 and 2 different serovars, respectively. These findings might indicate that domestic chicken meat is frequently contaminated with E. rhusiopathiae and seems to be a potential source of human Erysipelothrix infection.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan.
H
H
Nakazawa
H
H
Hayashidani
J
J
Higashi
K
K
Kaneko
T
T
Takahashi
M
M
Ogawa
D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D004888:Erysipelothrix / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004889:Erysipelothrix Infections; D005506:Food Contamination; D005525:Food-Processing Industry; D005517:Foodborne Diseases; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology; D012703:Serotyping