DIVERSITY AND PREVALENCE OF ARCOBACTER SPP. IN BROILER-CHICKENS

Ninety-nine strains of Arcobacter spp., isolated from 10 chicken carca sses purchased from a supermarket and 15 chicken carcasses collected f rom a poultry abattoir, were speciated using a variety of phenotypic i dentification methods. All were tested using API Campy test strips and the 16-test (Preston) identification scheme developed for campylobact ers. Fifty strains were selected for examination using a more comprehe nsive probabilistic identification scheme, and the identity of represe ntative strains confirmed by protein profiling using SDS-PAGE, All 25 carcasses yielded Arcobacter butzleri. Three supermarket and 10 abatto ir carcasses also carried ii. cryaerophilus, and two abattoir carcasse s carried A. skirrowii. The API Campy scheme proved unsatisfactory for identifying these strains: only 20 of 99 strains were accurately iden tified, all of which were A. cryaerophilus, the only Arcobacter sp. in cluded in the database. Moreover, 76 of 99 strains mere misidentified. The 16-test scheme identified all the arcobacter strains as A. cryaer ophilus, since neither A. butzleri nor A. skirrowii had been described when the scheme was developed. The computer-assisted probabilistic sc heme succeeded in identifying all but one strain, the identity of whic h was clarified by the use of SDS-PAGE. To our knowledge this is the f irst time that arcobacters other than A. butzleri have been reported i n poultry meat or any other food of animal origin. Their high prevalen ce in poultry products may be of significance to public health.