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Title: Evaluation of enrichment procedures to recover C. jejuni and C. coli from a dry-atmospheric-temperature stressful environment

Author
item Richardson, Larry
item Cox Jr, Nelson
item Buhr, Richard - Jeff
item HARRISON, M - University Of Georgia

Submitted to: Poultry Science Association
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/31/2009
Publication Date: 7/20/2009
Citation: Richardson, L.J., Cox Jr, N.A., Buhr, R.J., Harrison, M.A. 2009. Evaluation of enrichment procedures to recover C. jejuni and C. coli from a dry-atmospheric-temperature stressful environment [abstract]. Poultry Science Association. 88(S1):432P. P.132.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: It is difficult to recover Campylobacter spp. from samples subjected to drying without adequate resuscitation procedures which can result in characterization as viable but non-culturable. Desiccation in a stressful environment is often observed in commercial poultry hatcheries and grow-out facilities. The objective was to evaluate five different enrichment procedures for recovering dry-atmospheric-temperature stressed C. jejuni (Cj) and C. coli (Cc). In two trials, sterile hatchery trayliner pads and Whatman’s filter paper (n=1120) squares were used. Trayliner pad and filter paper were equally divided and inoculated with either a low (L) log 3 or high (H) log 6 CFU/mL level of characterized field strains of Cj or Cc. The paper squares were left at room temperature exposed to atmospheric conditions and sampled at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 24 h post-inoculation. The water activity of trayliner and filter pads (n=5) were recorded at each sampling time. The enrichment procedures were as follows and all were incubated in a microaerobic atmosphere: A) Buffered peptone incubated at 42°C for 48 h, B) Bolton broth without supplements at 42°C for 48 h, C) Tecra broth without supplements at 42°C for 48 h, D) Bolton broth with supplements incubated at 42°C for 48 h, E) Tecra broth without incorporation of supplements incubated at 37°C for 5 h then supplement added and incubated at 42°C. The water activity for the samples incrementally declined over the 24 h period from0.89 to 0.30. Overall, recovery rate of Campylobacter strains decreased gradually from 0 to 2 h, sharply from 2 to 4 h, with some recovery at 6 h, and undetectable at 24 h. The total recovery (for all sample times) for Cj-L papers was 30, 44, 44, 42, and 55% and for Cj-H papers was 40, 57, 54, 52, and 63% from procedures A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. The total recovery rate for Cc-L papers was 24, 34, 34, 31, and 36% and for Cc-H papers was 33, 40, 34, 41, and 45% from procedures A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Method E (Tecra with supplements added at 5 h) consistently performed best by 5.6 % for both organisms and at both inoculums levels. Optimizing resuscitation broths and procedures are vital to accurately access the ecology of Campylobacter spp. in poultry production environments.