Detection of species in different types of samples from dairy farms.

Background: Livestock, domestic pets and wildlife can be intestinal carriers of thermotolerant species. These reservoirs can in turn contaminate the environment and food products, thus creating pathways to campylobacteriosis in human beings. The purposes of this study were to investigate sampling strategies applied for surveillance of on dairy cattle farms and to identify the presence and species of in different age groups.

Methods: Boot sock and faecal samples were collected from five dairy herds from three age groups-cows, heifers and calves younger than 12 months-and from milk filters.

Results: species were isolated in 152 of 250 samples, of which 93 isolates were identified as , 51 as , two as and one as , whereas five isolates could not be identified to species level. species were isolated from 86 of 110 faecal samples, 60 of 97 sock samples and six of 43 milk filter samples.

Conclusion: Faecal samples were the optimal sample type for detection of on dairy farms. However, taking multiple types of samples could be recommended in order to optimise the recovery rate and variety of species detected when investigating the presence of on dairy farms.