Campylobacter in Raw Chicken Meat at Retail Level: Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment, Genomic Profiling, and Comparison With Isolates From Human Infections
IF 2.1 4区 农林科学Q3 BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
Lucien Kelbert , Karen Barmettler , Jule Anna Horlbog , Marc J.A. Stevens , Nicole Cernela , Magdalena Nüesch-Inderbinen , Roger Stephan
{"title":"Campylobacter in Raw Chicken Meat at Retail Level: Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment, Genomic Profiling, and Comparison With Isolates From Human Infections","authors":"Lucien Kelbert , Karen Barmettler , Jule Anna Horlbog , Marc J.A. Stevens , Nicole Cernela , Magdalena Nüesch-Inderbinen , Roger Stephan","doi":"10.1016/j.jfp.2025.100540","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Campylobacter</em> is the leading cause of human bacterial diarrheal disease, and the handling and consumption of poultry meat products account for most cases. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence and levels of <em>Campylobacter</em> in Swiss and imported retail chicken meat during May – August 2024. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was applied to assess phylogenetic relatedness between <em>Campylobacter</em> from chicken meat samples and human infections occurring during the study time in Switzerland, and to identify antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes. A total of 300 different chilled or frozen chicken meat samples and 50 chilled marinated meat samples were analyzed by qualitative (enrichment) and quantitative (plating) ISO 10272-1:2017 and ISO 10272-2:2017 methods. After enrichment, the <em>Campylobacter</em> recovery rate was higher in chilled (62%) than in marinated meat (40%) or frozen chicken meat (11%). <em>Campylobacter</em> were more prevalent in meat from organically labeled meat (72%) and free-range labeled meat (77%) compared to meat with other labels. Quantitatively, 3.7% of chilled, nonmarinated meat had >100 colony-forming units (cfu)/g (range 100–700 cfu/g). The detection of multiple genetically indistinguishable isolates from meat and from humans indicated that chilled chicken meat is a major infection source for Swiss cases of campylobacteriosis. Antimicrobial resistance determinants included <em>bla</em><sub>OXA</sub>, <em>tet</em>(O), and the T86I substitution in GyrA. Virulence genes <em>cstIII</em>, <em>neuABC</em>, <em>wlaN</em>, and <em>cdtABC</em> which are linked to the Guillain-Barré syndrome and gastrointestinal cancers, respectively, were identified. Our data highlight the need to reduce the levels of <em>Campylobacter</em> in chicken meat to protect public health. Freezing meat prior to retailing is an effective and relatively inexpensive measure to increase product safety and to reduce the risk of campylobacteriosis in humans.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15903,"journal":{"name":"Journal of food protection","volume":"88 7","pages":"Article 100540"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of food protection","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X25000924","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Campylobacter is the leading cause of human bacterial diarrheal disease, and the handling and consumption of poultry meat products account for most cases. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence and levels of Campylobacter in Swiss and imported retail chicken meat during May – August 2024. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was applied to assess phylogenetic relatedness between Campylobacter from chicken meat samples and human infections occurring during the study time in Switzerland, and to identify antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes. A total of 300 different chilled or frozen chicken meat samples and 50 chilled marinated meat samples were analyzed by qualitative (enrichment) and quantitative (plating) ISO 10272-1:2017 and ISO 10272-2:2017 methods. After enrichment, the Campylobacter recovery rate was higher in chilled (62%) than in marinated meat (40%) or frozen chicken meat (11%). Campylobacter were more prevalent in meat from organically labeled meat (72%) and free-range labeled meat (77%) compared to meat with other labels. Quantitatively, 3.7% of chilled, nonmarinated meat had >100 colony-forming units (cfu)/g (range 100–700 cfu/g). The detection of multiple genetically indistinguishable isolates from meat and from humans indicated that chilled chicken meat is a major infection source for Swiss cases of campylobacteriosis. Antimicrobial resistance determinants included blaOXA, tet(O), and the T86I substitution in GyrA. Virulence genes cstIII, neuABC, wlaN, and cdtABC which are linked to the Guillain-Barré syndrome and gastrointestinal cancers, respectively, were identified. Our data highlight the need to reduce the levels of Campylobacter in chicken meat to protect public health. Freezing meat prior to retailing is an effective and relatively inexpensive measure to increase product safety and to reduce the risk of campylobacteriosis in humans.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Food Protection® (JFP) is an international, monthly scientific journal in the English language published by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP). JFP publishes research and review articles on all aspects of food protection and safety. Major emphases of JFP are placed on studies dealing with:
Tracking, detecting (including traditional, molecular, and real-time), inactivating, and controlling food-related hazards, including microorganisms (including antibiotic resistance), microbial (mycotoxins, seafood toxins) and non-microbial toxins (heavy metals, pesticides, veterinary drug residues, migrants from food packaging, and processing contaminants), allergens and pests (insects, rodents) in human food, pet food and animal feed throughout the food chain;
Microbiological food quality and traditional/novel methods to assay microbiological food quality;
Prevention of food-related hazards and food spoilage through food preservatives and thermal/non-thermal processes, including process validation;
Food fermentations and food-related probiotics;
Safe food handling practices during pre-harvest, harvest, post-harvest, distribution and consumption, including food safety education for retailers, foodservice, and consumers;
Risk assessments for food-related hazards;
Economic impact of food-related hazards, foodborne illness, food loss, food spoilage, and adulterated foods;
Food fraud, food authentication, food defense, and foodborne disease outbreak investigations.