title: Method-dependent variability in determination of prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in Canadian retail poultry.
abstract: Campylobacter is the most frequent cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in Canada, and the illness is commonly associated with poultry consumption. Whereas Canadian retail poultry is often contaminated with campylobacters, studies on the prevalence of this organism are inconsistent due to variability in sampling and microbiological methodology. To determine the current microbiological status of Canadian poultry, and to evaluate two commonly used microbiological methods, 348 raw poultry samples were collected at retail across Canada over a period of 3 years (2007 to 2010) and were analyzed for the presence of thermophilic Campylobacter species. The overall prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was found to be 42.8% by a combination of the two testing methods, with 33.9% of the samples positive for C. jejuni, 3.7% of the samples positive for C. coli, and 5.2% of the samples positive for both. Variability in Campylobacter spp. prevalence was observed in samples obtained from different regions across Canada and from poultry with or without skin, but this was not statistically significant. In co-contaminated samples, C. jejuni was preferentially recovered from Preston agar compared with mCCDA and Campy-Cefex agar, with an increase in recovery of C. coli on all selective media after 48 h of enrichment. A subset of 214 of the poultry rinses were analyzed by both Health Canada's standard method, MFLP-46 (enrichment in Park and Sanders broth), and a second method requiring enrichment in Bolton broth. Significantly more positive samples were obtained with the MFLP-46 method (40.6%) than with the alternate method (35.0%). This improved recovery with MFLP-46 may be due to the omission of cycloheximide from this method. These results demonstrate that determination of prevalence of Campylobacter spp. on poultry products may be significantly impacted by the choice of microbiological methods used. Canadian poultry continues to be a source of exposure to Campylobacter spp.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, 251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0K9, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 960 Carling Avenue Bldg # 22, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0C6. catherine.carrillo@inspection.gc.ca.
authors.forename: Catherine D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Québec Region, 1001 Saint-Laurent Street West, Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 1C7.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Plante
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Québec Region, 1001 Saint-Laurent Street West, Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 1C7.
authors.forename: Irène
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iugovaz
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, 251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0K9.
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kenwell
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Québec Region, 1001 Saint-Laurent Street West, Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 1C7.
authors.forename: Ghislaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bélanger
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Québec Region, 1001 Saint-Laurent Street West, Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 1C7.
authors.forename: Francine
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boucher
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Québec Region, 1001 Saint-Laurent Street West, Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 1C7.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Poulin
authors.affiliation: Health Canada, Québec Region, 1001 Saint-Laurent Street West, Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 1C7.
authors.forename: Yvon-Louis
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Trottier
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D000818:Animals; D017000:Campylobacter coli / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002170:Canada; D003513:Cycloheximide / Q000737:chemistry; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000379:methods*; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D011200:Poultry / Q000382:microbiology*; D011202:Poultry Products / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000362:Agar; D003513:Cycloheximide