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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #389820
Research Project: Production and Processing Intervention Strategies for Poultry Associated Foodborne Pathogens

Location: Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit

Title: Cold storage after egg inoculation enhances Campylobacter recovery from embryos and egg contents thru day 5 of incubation M1. p.2,Poultry Science. 101(E-Suppl.1). 2022.

Author
item Harris, Caitlin
item Bartenfeld Josselson, Lydia
item Buhr, Richard - Jeff

Submitted to: International Poultry Scientific Forum
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/7/2021
Publication Date: 1/24/2022
Citation: Harris, C.E., Bartenfeld Jossel, L.N., Buhr, R.J. 2022. Cold storage after egg inoculation enhances Campylobacter recovery from embryos and egg contents thru day 5 of incubation M1. p.2,Poultry Science. 101(E-Suppl.1). 2022.. International Poultry Scientific Forum. M1 p.2.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Campylobacter spp. are important foodborne pathogens and increased knowledge on potential egg transmission would be beneficial for developing intervention strategies. Data is lacking for Campylobacter verifying vertical egg transmission compared to Salmonellae. The first objective of the experiment compared Campylobacter inoculation of albumen (1AL) or yolk (2YO) injected hatching eggs that were cold stored, then incubated. The second objective tested Campylobacter inoculation directly on the vitelline membrane (3VM) before incubating. 150 SPF White Leghorn eggs were collected and divided into 3 trt (n=40 1AL and 2YO; n=30 3VM). On d0 for 1AL and 2YO, 10^3 CFU C. coli inoculum was injected into the albumen or yolk. For trt 1AL and 2YO, inoculated eggs were stored for 2d (6 C; 54%RH) and transferred to incubator for 5d (37.5 C; 55% RH). On d0 for 3VM, eggs were aseptically broken, albumen and yolk separated, and 10^3 CFU C. coli placed onto vitelline membrane. After 5 min, albumen was added on top of the inoculated yolk and sample cups incubated for 5d (37.5 C; 55% RH). On each day of storage and incubation 5 eggs/trt were sampled, 1:1 diluted using BPW, and direct and enriched plated in triplicate. On d5 of incubation, embryos were aseptically removed and sampled separately from egg contents. Results were recorded as positive or negative; Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine significance (p=0.05). On d0, all trt were 100%+ direct prior to cold storage or incubation. For both storage d, 1AL and 2YO samples were 100%+ enriched. For incubation d1 to 5 there was a significant difference between trt for Campylobacter recovery. 3VM samples were 0%+ enriched and 1AL were 0 to 20%+ enriched for d1 to 4. On d5, egg contents for 1AL and 2YO were 60%+ enriched and 3VM was statistically different with 0%+ enriched. On d5, Campylobacter recovery from embryos was 0%+ for 1AL and 3VM, which was significantly lower than 2YO recovery at 100%+ enriched. Overall, Campylobacter was recovered on all sample d for 2YO from egg contents and embryos, and recovery was lower for 1AL and 3VM. These results are the first to confirm that yolk inoculation, cold storage for 2d, and then incubation may be a possible method to study vertical transmission of Campylobacter during incubation.