Clostridium perfringens occurrence and ribotypes in healthy broilers reared in different European countries.

The main aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and ribotypes of Clostridium perfringens in broiler flocks reared in 2 European countries that apply European Union Regulation 1831/2003. A total of 1,532 cecum contents were collected between June 2005 and November 2006 from birds belonging to 51 intensively reared flocks produced in the Czech Republic and 41 intensive production, organic, and free-range flocks reared in Italy. Clostridium perfringens was detected in 64.

Genotypic and phenotypic diversity within three Campylobacter populations isolated from broiler ceca and carcasses.

The main aim of this study was to trace Campylobacter subtypes colonizing Italian broilers and carcasses in and between flocks. Overall, 209 Campylobacter isolates were collected from ceca (n = 94) and carcasses (n = 115) of broilers belonging to 3 different flocks reared in the same farm during subsequent rotations and processed in the same slaughterhouse. All isolates were identified by multiplex polymerase chain reaction and genotyped by amplified fragment length polymorphism.

Enumeration and identity of Campylobacter spp. in Italian broilers.

Transmission of Campylobacter to humans has been prominently associated with mishandling or improperly preparing contaminated poultry carcasses. The number of organisms per carcass represents an important measure of human exposure to the agent. Therefore, we wished to estimate this public exposure over 1 yr among Italian broiler carcasses.

Comparison of the BAX System with a multiplex PCR method for simultaneous detection and identification of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in environmental samples.

The Campylobacter detection is performed by conventional culture methods and the identification of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli is principally based on the hippurate hydrolysis test. The two major drawbacks of this biochemical test for species identification include the inconsistency of the results and the presence of atypical strains, which can lead to the misidentification of an isolate. As an alternative, multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) protocols for the simultaneous detection and identification of different Campylobacter species have been developed.

Ribotyping characterisation of campylobacter isolates randomly collected from different sources in Italy.

In this study the potential for using the automated PstI ribotyping as a primary library typing method to survey Campylobacter and for identification of two thermophilic Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli species was evaluated. A total of 158 isolates randomly collected in Italy from different sources were analyzed. A large percentage of chicken (28%), turkey (27%) and turkey meat (25%) isolates shared their ribotyping profiles (ribotypes) with those of humans, whereas the swine isolates had unique profiles.