Campylobacter recovery from external and internal organs of commercial broiler carcass prior to scalding

Campylobacter is a human pathogen commonly found on live broilers and proce ssed carcasses. To plan effective intervention strategies, it would be help ful to know which Campylobacter populations are associated with the externa l and internal organs of broilers. Six carcasses were collected after exiti ng the bleed tunnel at a commercial broiler plant on each of three visits ( n = 18). Carcasses were placed individually into sterile plastic bags, seal ed, and covered with ice for transport to the laboratory. Five locations we re sampled aseptically from each carcass: breast feathers (hand picked from the sternal tracts); breast skin, including the sternal tracts; crop; ceca ; and colon. Samples included adhering contamination or lumen contents and were covered with phosphate-buffered saline and blended. Serial dilutions w ere made for examination of Campylobacter, coliform, Escherichia coli, and total aerobic bacterial populations. Average sample weights (grams) were as follows: feathers, 1.5; skin, 6.5; crop, 5.1; ceca, 7.8; and colon, 3.1. C ampylobacter populations (mean log(10) colony-forming units per gram of sam ple) found were feathers, 5.4; skin, 3.8; crop, 4.7; ceca, 7.3; and colon, 7.2. Coliform/E. coli populations observed were feathers, 6.4/6.0; skin, 5. 3/4.9; crop, 4.3/3.7; ceca, 6.6/6.2; and colon, 5.8/5.3. Total aerobic bact erial populations found were feathers, 7.9; skin, 7.1; crop, 5.8; ceca, 6.8 ; and colon, 6.4. On a per gram basis, ceca and colon are the internal orga ns that if ruptured could cause the highest number of Campylobacter to be l eaked onto the carcass. The crop also contained more Campylobacter per gram than did the skin, and if compromised may increase the numbers on the surf ace of the carcass. However, even with no contamination from an internal or gan, a substantial population of Campylobacter is already resident on broil er skin as the carcass enters the early stages of processing.