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Title: COMPARISON OF TWO ENRICHMENT BROTHS FOR THE RECOVERY OF CAMPYLOBACTER SPP. FROM CARCASS RINSES FROM SEVERAL COMMERCIAL PROCESSING PLANTS

Author
item Bailey, Joseph
item Cray, Paula
item Richardson, Larry
item Cox Jr, Nelson
item HARRISON, MARK - UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
item COX, JULIAN - UNIV OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Submitted to: International Association for Food Protection
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/13/2006
Publication Date: 8/13/2006
Citation: Bailey, J.S. 2006. Comparison of two enrichment broths for the recovery of campylobacter spp. from carcass rinses from several commercial processing plants [abstract]. International Association for Food Protection. T1-03:71.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Campylobacter is the leading cause of acute bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Better cultural recovery methods for Campylobacter spp. are needed in order to accurately develop an understanding of the epidemiology and ecology of this organism in poultry. The objective of this study was to compare a traditionally used culture method (Bolton’s enrichment broth containing lysed horse blood) to a newly developed proprietary Tecra® Campylobacter enrichment broth for the recovery of Campylobacter spp. from chicken carcass rinses. A total of 390 carcass rinse samples from four different locations on the processing line were taken from 17 processing plants located throughout the United States. An aliquot of the rinse from each sample was put into Bolton’s and Tecra® enrichment broths and standard laboratory procedures using Campy Cefex plates were followed for the recovery of Campylobacter spp. For all carcass rinse samples, Campylobacter spp. were recovered from 84% (328/390) of the rinse samples in Tecra® enrichment broth and from 67% (261/390) of the rinse samples in Bolton enrichment broth. Evaluation of background microflora on Cefex plates showed that Tecra® enrichment broth significantly (p>0.05) reduced the background microflora when compared to Bolton’s enrichment broth. Tecra enrichment broth yielded 17% more positive samples than did Bolton’s enrichment broth, primarily because the level of background microflora on Cefex plates were reduced making it easier to identify suspect Campylobacter colony forming units. In this study, Tecra enrichment broth proved to be superior overall to the presently used conventional cultural method for the detection of Campylobacter spp. in chicken carcass rinses.