Estimating the Frequency of Campylobacter spp. in Fecal Samples from Poultry Slaughterhouse Workers and Chicken Meat Sellers in Arak city, Iran

Authors
1 Microbiology Department, Infectious Diseases Research Center (IDRC), Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
2 Microbiology Department, Infectious Diseases Research Center(IDRC), Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
Abstract
Aim: Thermophilic Campylobacter is the first cause of gastroenteritis infection in human. Nowadays, the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. is higher than other bacteria causing intestinal infection such as Salmonella and Shigella. This study was designed to compare the frequency of Campylobacter species in poultry slaughterhouse workers and poultry meat sellers (exposed group) and in healthy people (non-exposed group) in Arak city.
Materials & Methods: Among the 104 samples, 52 samples were collected from the slaughterhouse workers and poultry meat sellers, and 52 samples were collected from the control group. The stool samples were taken from the slaughterhouse workers, poultry meat seller, and healthy people who had not received antibiotics for the last two weeks. For enrichment, the samples were enriched in Preston broth medium at 37℃ for 48 hrs under the microaerophilic conditions. Then they were sub cultured using a passive filtration method on Brucella agar at 37℃ for 72 hrs under the microaerophilic conditions. Finally, the samples were directly tested using genus- and species specific PCR primers.
Findings: Of 52 samples collected from the slaughterhouse workers and poultry meat sellers, 11 (21.1%) samples were positive for the presence of Campylobacter spp. by PCR, and of 52 samples collected from the healthy people, 2 (3.8%) samples were reported as positive. The most frequent species isolated from the 2 groups were C.jejuni (53.84%) and C.coli (23.07%), respectively.
Conclusion: Chicken is identified as one of the important sources of Campylobacter infections in humans, which may contaminate poultry Slaughterhouse workers and chicken meat sellers, which in turn, they could potentially transmit Campylobacter strains to healthy people and chicken meat.

Keywords


1. Burnham PM, Hendrixson DR. Campylobacter jejuni: collective components promoting a successful enteric lifestyle. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 2018:1.
2. Bronnec V, Turoňová H, Bouju A, Cruveiller S, Rodrigues R, Demnerova K, et al. Adhesion, biofilm formation, and genomic features of Campylobacter jejuni Bf, an atypical strain able to grow under aerobic conditions. Frontiers in microbiology. 2016;7:1002.
3. Johnson DI, Beck. Bacterial Pathogens and Their Virulence Factors: Springer; 2018.
4. Chlebicz A, Śliżewska K. Campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis, yersiniosis, and listeriosis as zoonotic foodborne diseases: a review. International journal of environmental research and public health. 2018;15(5):863.
5. Sakaridis I, Ellis RJ, Cawthraw SA, Van Vliet AH, Stekel DJ, Penell J, et al. Investigating the association between the caecal microbiomes of broilers and Campylobacter burden. Frontiers in microbiology. 2018;9.
6. Johnson TJ, Shank JM, Johnson JG. Current and potential treatments for reducing Campylobacter colonization in animal hosts and disease in humans. Frontiers in microbiology. 2017;8:487.
7. Dunn SJ, Pascoe B, Turton J, Fleming V, Diggle M, Sheppard SK, et al. Genomic epidemiology of clinical Campylobacter spp. at a single health trust site. Microbial genomics. 2018;4(10).
8. Nyati KK, Nyati R. Role of Campylobacter jejuni infection in the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré syndrome: an update. BioMed research international. 2013;2013.
9. Di Giannatale E, Di Serafino G, Zilli K, Alessiani A, Sacchini L, Garofolo G, et al. Characterization of antimicrobial resistance patterns and detection of virulence genes in Campylobacter isolates in Italy. Sensors. 2014;14(2):3308-22.
10. Facciolà A, Riso R, Avventuroso E, Visalli G, Delia SA, Laganà P. Campylobacter: From microbiology to prevention. Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene. 2017;58(2):E79.
11. Vinueza-Burgos C, Wautier M, Martiny D, Cisneros M, Van Damme I, De Zutter L. Prevalence, antimicrobial resistance and genetic diversity of Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni in Ecuadorian broilers at slaughter age. Poultry science. 2017;96(7):2366-74.
12. Corry J, Atabay H. Poultry as a source of Campylobacter and related organisms. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 2001;90(S6):96S-114S.
13. Althaus D, Zweifel C, Stephan R. Analysis of a poultry slaughter process: Influence of process stages on the microbiological contamination of broiler carcasses. Italian journal of food safety. 2017;6(4).
14. Linton D, Lawson A, Owen R, Stanley J. PCR detection, identification to species level, and fingerprinting of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli direct from diarrheic samples. Journal of clinical microbiology. 1997;35(10):2568-72.
15. Yamazaki-Matsune W, Taguchi M, Seto K, Kawahara R, Kawatsu K, Kumeda Y, et al. Development of a multiplex PCR assay for identification of Campylobacter coli, Campylobacter fetus, Campylobacter hyointestinalis subsp. hyointestinalis, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter lari and Campylobacter upsaliensis. Journal of Medical Microbiology. 2007;56(11):1467-73.
16. Kawasaki S, Fratamico PM, Wesley IV, Kawamoto S. Species-specific identification of campylobacters by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism and PCR targeting of the gyrase B gene. Applied and environmental microbiology. 2008;74(8):2529-33.
17. Torkan S, Vazirian B, Khamesipour F, Dida GO. Prevalence of thermotolerant Campylobacter species in dogs and cats in Iran. Veterinary medicine and science. 2018;4(4):296-303.
18. Nilsson A, Skarp A, Johansson C, Kaden R, Engstrand L, Rautelin H. Characterization of Swedish Campylobacter coli clade 2 and clade 3 water isolates. MicrobiologyOpen. 2018:e00583.
19. Tresse O, Alvarez-Ordóñez A, Connerton IF. About the Foodborne Pathogen Campylobacter. Frontiers in microbiology. 2017;8:1908.
20. Smith JL, Gunther IV NW. Commentary: Campylobacter and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. Foodborne pathogens and disease. 2018.
21. Boysen L, Rosenquist H, Larsson J, Nielsen E, Sørensen G, Nordentoft S, et al. Source attribution of human campylobacteriosis in Denmark. Epidemiology & Infection. 2014;142(8):1599-608.
22. de Perio MA, Niemeier RT, Levine SJ, Gruszynski K, Gibbins JD. Campylobacter infection in poultry-processing workers, Virginia, USA, 2008–2011. Emerging infectious diseases. 2013;19(2):286.
23. Ellström P, Hansson I, Söderström C, Engvall EO, Rautelin H. A prospective follow-up study on transmission of Campylobacter from poultry to abattoir workers. Foodborne pathogens and disease. 2014;11(9):684-8.
24. Porte L, Varela C, Haecker T, Morales S, Weitzel T. Impact of changing from staining to culture techniques on detection rates of Campylobacter spp. in routine stool samples in Chile. BMC infectious diseases. 2016;16(1):196.
25. Holmberg M, Rosendal T, Engvall EO, Ohlson A, Lindberg A. Prevalence of thermophilic Campylobacter species in Swedish dogs and characterization of C. jejuni isolates. Acta veterinaria scandinavica. 2015;57(1):19.
26. Sainato R, ElGendy A, Poly F, Kuroiwa J, Guerry P, Riddle MS, et al. Epidemiology of Campylobacter Infections among Children in Egypt. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 2018;98(2):581-5.
27. Ghosh R, Uppal B, Aggarwal P, Chakravarti A, Jha AK, Dubey A. A comparative study of conventional and molecular techniques in diagnosis of campylobacter gastroenteritis in children. Annals of Clinical & Laboratory Science. 2014;44(1):42-8.
28. Wang H, Murdoch DR. Detection of Campylobacter species in faecal samples by direct Gram stain microscopy. Pathology. 2004;36(4):343-4.
29. Toledo Z, Simaluiza RJ, Astudillo X, Fernández H. Occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility of thermophilic Campylobacter species isolated from healthy children attending municipal care centers in Southern Ecuador. Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. 2017;59.