title: Occurrence and characterization of Campylobacter in the Brazilian production and processing of broilers.
abstract: Twenty-two commercial broiler flocks and their carcasses, totaling 546 samples (450 collected from a poultry farm and 96 from a slaughterhouse), were surveyed for the presence of Campylobacter. The positive results for Campylobacter among the analyzed samples were homogeneous, yielding 81.8% for cecal droppings, 80.9% for feces, and 80.4% for cloacal swabs. Pre-enrichment and direct plating showed that 77.85% and 81.8% of cloacal swabs, respectively, were positive for Campylobacter compared to 99.0% and 97.9% of carcasses testing positive with the pre-enrichment and direct plating methods. The Campylobacter count averaged 7.0 log10 colony-forming units (CFU)/g in cecal droppings, 5.15 log10 CFU/carcass after defeathering, and 4.24 log10 CFU/carcass after chilling. The samples were identified by the API Campy system as Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni (68.8%), Campylobacter coli (8.3%), Campylobacter jejuni subsp. doylei (6.3%), Campylobacter upsaliensis (4.2%), and Campylobacter fetus subsp. fetus (2.1%). The analyzed broiler flocks were positive for Campylobacter in 81.8% of the cases, thus characterizing the occurrence of this pathogen in a broiler-producing region in southern Brazil. These results highlight the importance of programs targeted at the reduction of Campylobacter in poultry products, in order to minimize the risks for consumers.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Faculdade de Veterinária, Programa de Pós Graduação em Ciências Veterinárias, Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9090, CEP 91540000, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Kuana
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borsoi
authors.forename: H L S
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.forename: C T P
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Salle
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Nascimento
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D002432:Cecum / Q000382:microbiology; D002645:Chickens; D002988:Cloaca / Q000382:microbiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*