title: Survival in water of Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from the slaughterhouse.
abstract: Campylobacter jejuni cause gastroenteritis in humans. The main transmission vector is the consumption or handling of contaminated chicken meat, since chicken can be colonized asymptomatically by C. jejuni. However, water has been implicated as the transmission vector in a few outbreaks. One possibility is the contamination of water effluent by C. jejuni originating from chicken farm. The ability of C. jejuni to be transmitted by water would be closely associated to its ability to survive in water. Therefore, in this study, we have evaluated the ability of reference strains and chicken-isolated strains to survive in water. Defined water media were used, since the composition of tap water is variable. We showed that some isolates survive better than others in defined freshwater (Fraquil) and that the survival was affected by temperature and the concentration of NaCl. By comparing the ability of C. jejuni to survive in water with other phenotypic properties previously tested, we showed that the ability to survive in water was negatively correlated with autoagglutination. Our data showed that not all chicken isolates have the same ability to survive in water, which is probably due to difference in genetic content.
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Montreal, QC H9X 3V9 Canada.
authors.forename: Hana
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Trigui
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Montreeal, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC Canada.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thibodeau
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Montreeal, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC Canada.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fravalo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Montreeal, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC Canada.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Letellier
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resource Sciences, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, 21,111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Montreal, QC H9X 3V9 Canada.
authors.forename: Sebastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: P Faucher