ISOLATION AND DETECTION OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE OF THERMOPHILIC CAMPYLOBACTER FROM LAYER FARMS AND CHICKEN PROCESSING LINES
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Date
2022-10-19
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COLLEGE OF VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES, MANNUTHY, THRISSUR, KERALA VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY
Abstract
Campylobacteriosis is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Chicken and other poultry species are the major reservoir for thermophilic Campylobacter spp. like C. jejuni and C. coli. The present study was undertaken to determine the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in layer farms, chicken processing lines, molecular confirmation and antibiotic resistance profile studies of isolates, investigation of genotypic resistance pattern of isolates against tetracycline and ampicillin and evaluation of antibacterial efficacy of chitosan against Campylobacter spp. on chicken skin. A total of 260 samples, comprising of 120 cloacal swabs and 140 environmental samples were collected from two organised layer farms (F1 and F2), one each in Thrissur and Ernakulam districts.
In order to establish the important contamination points of Campylobacter during slaughter, a total of 324 samples were analysed from various points of two poultry processing lines, SL1 and SL2. All the samples were subjected to isolation and identification of Campylobacter spp. by conventional culture technique. Genus confirmation and species level identification of the isolates was done by polymerase chain reaction. The overall occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in layer farms F1 and F2 was 20 per cent and 15.4 per cent, respectively. Upon comparing the contamination points from poultry processing lines, contamination in SL1 (37.65 per cent) was found to be higher than SL2 (15.4 per cent). In both slaughterlines, Campylobacter positive status of the birds brought for slaughter was the prime source for C. jejuni contamination. The presence of the organism which increased during scalding, defeathering and evisceration steps, decreased after final washing and chilling of the carcass. Antibiotic resistance profiling revealed all isolates to be resistant to cefipime, cefixime, ceftazidime and cefuroxime. The genes conferring tetracycline and ampicillin resistance, tetO and blaOXA-61 were found among 73.3 per cent and 42.8 per cent of the isolates. Upon statistical analysis, no significant reduction of Campylobacter counts on chicken skin was observed after treatments with different concentrations of chitosan (0.5 per cent, 1 per cent or 2 per cent). The results of present study signify the prevalence of C. jejuni, a zoonotic pathogen, in the layer farms and poultry processing environment of central Kerala. Appropriate biosecurity measures and processing interventions along the poultry production chain is essential for the effective control of this pathogen.