title: Prevalence of Campylobacter species in meat, milk and other food commodities in Pakistan.
abstract: A surveillance study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter in meat, milk and other food commodities in Pakistan. Over a period of 3 years (January 2002-December 2004), a total of 1636 food samples of meat, milk and other food commodities were procured from three big cities of Pakistan (Faisalabad, Lahore and Islamabad) and were analysed. Among meat samples, the highest prevalence (48%) of Campylobacter was recorded in raw chicken meat followed by raw beef (10.9%) and raw mutton (5.1%). Among other food commodities, the highest prevalence was observed in vegetable/fruit salad (40.9%), sandwiches (32%), cheese (11%) and raw bulk milk samples (10.2%). The overall prevalence of Campylobacter was found to be 21.5%, out of which 70.6% were identified as Campylobacter (C.) jejuni and 29.4% as C. coli. The study reported that the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was significantly higher in the food commodities, which included raw/undercooked ingredients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan. driftikharuaf@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Iftikhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shahid Mahmood
authors.forename: Masood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akhtar
authors.forename: Ahrar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D008461:Meat Products / Q000382:microbiology; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology*; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D017747:Seafood / Q000382:microbiology