title: A comparison of three methods for the isolation of Arcobacter spp. from retail raw poultry in Northern Ireland.
abstract: Recent evidence suggests that arcobacters, especially Arcobacter butzleri, are potential foodborne pathogens, but standardized detection methods have yet to be established. A study was undertaken to determine which of three isolation methods was the most effective for the isolation of Arcobacter spp. from fresh raw poultry. Methods 1 was microaerobic and involved a membrane filtration step followed by plating onto blood agar. Method 2 was also microaerobic and involved enrichment and plating media containing a five-antibiotic cocktail. Method 3 was aerobic and was based on enrichment in a charcoal-based broth containing two antibiotics. Retail poultry samples (n = 50) were obtained from supermarkets in Northern Ireland; the European Community license number was recorded to ensure sample diversity. Presumptive arcobacters were identified using genus-specific and species-specific primers. Methods 1 resulted in the lowest recovery of arcobacters (28% of samples positive). The detection rate for method 2 (68%) was higher than that for method 3 (50%), but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05). Modification of method 3 by plating the enrichment broth at 24 h, as well as at 48 h, increased recovery to 68%. Use of methods 2 and 3 together increased the number of positive samples detected by approximately 25% compared with use of either method alone. A. butzleri was the most commonly isolated species using all methods. Method 3 detected Arcobacter cryaerophilus in more samples (n = 3) than did method 1 and 2 (n = 1). Arcobacter skirrowii was detected by only method 3 (n = 1). In terms of sensitivity, ease of use, and diversity of species recovered, modified method 3 was the overall method of choice.
authors.affiliation: Food Science Department, Queen's University of Belfast, Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5PX, Northern Ireland.
authors.forename: Roisin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scullion
authors.forename: Clare S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Harrington
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Madden
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020640:Arcobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D009660:Northern Ireland; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity