title: Concurrent quantitation of total campylobacter and total ciprofloxacin-resistant campylobacter loads in rinses from retail raw chicken carcasses from 2001 to 2003 by direct plating at 42 degrees C.
abstract: This is the first report on the use of a normally lethal dose of ciprofloxacin in a Campylobacter agar medium to kill all ciprofloxacin-sensitive Campylobacter spp. but allow the selective isolation and quantitation of naturally occurring presumptive ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter CFU in rinses from retail raw chicken carcasses (RTCC). Thermophilic-group total Campylobacter CFU and total ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter CFU (irrespective of species) were concurrently quantified in rinses from RTCC by direct plating of centrifuged pellets from 10 or 50 ml out of 400-ml rinse subsamples concurrently on Campylobacter agar and ciprofloxacin-containing Campylobacter agar at 42 degrees C (detection limit = 0.90 log(10) CFU/carcass). For 2001, 2002, and 2003, countable Campylobacter CFU were recovered from 85%, 96%, and 57% of RTCC, while countable ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter CFU were recovered from 60%, 59%, and 17.5% of RTCC, respectively. Total Campylobacter CFU loads in RTCC rinses ranged from 0.90 to 4.52, 0.90 to 4.58, and 0.90 to 4.48 log(10) CFU/carcass in 2001, 2002, and 2003, respectively. Total ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter CFU loads in RTCC rinses ranged from 0.90 to 4.06, 0.90 to 3.95, and 0.90 to 3.04 log(10) CFU/carcass in 2001, 2002, and 2003, respectively. Overall, total Campylobacter loads of 0.90 to 2.0, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, 4 to 5 log(10) CFU/carcass, respectively, were recovered from 16%, 32%, 26%, and 5% of RTCC tested over the 2-year sampling period. For the same period, total ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter loads of 0.90 to 2.0, 2 to 3, 3 to 4, and 4 to 5 log(10) CFU/carcass, respectively, were recovered from 24%, 11%, 7%, and 0.2% of RTCC tested. There was a steady decline in total Campylobacter and total ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter loads in RTCC rinses from 2001/2002 to 2003.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, and Center for Food Safety & Quality--Institute of Food Science & Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72704, USA. rkneni@uark.edu
authors.forename: Ramakrishna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nannapaneni
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Story
authors.forename: Keith C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003470:Culture Media; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005506:Food Contamination; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D003470:Culture Media; D002939:Ciprofloxacin