Purpose: This study compared CCPM with CCA for isolating C. jejuni and C. coli artificially inoculated into ground raw chicken and turkey.
Methods: Campylobacter jejuni (ATCC BAA-1153), C. coli (ATCC 43478), and various microbes used as the background flora were diluted, added to stomacher bags containing raw ground poultry, and hand massaged. Isolation and confirmation of C. jejuni and C. coli followed the qualitative procedures as outlined in the USDA MLG, with the modification of Bolton broth with selective agents added directly to the 140 poultry meat samples at 1/10 dilution.
Results: At low dilution levels (0.70 to 1.50 CFU/g for C. jejuni and 0.70 to 0.84 CFU/g for C. coli), CCPM isolated these Campylobacter species from 97.5% of the inoculated samples; whereas, CCA detected these microbes in 53.8% of the poultry samples. For inoculation levels ranging from 3 to 8 CFU/g, the incidence of isolation of C. jejuni and C. coli in the poultry samples were 100.0% and 93.3% for CCPM and CCA, respectively. For CCPM, 83.3% of the positive samples, at low detection levels, required one colony to be picked for confirmation; whereas, 58.5% of the positive samples on CCA were first picked isolates.
Significance: CCPM isolated C. jejuni/C. coli, inoculated at low detection levels in raw ground poultry, at nearly twice the frequency compared with CCA. The ease of isolation (detection and plating efficiency, reduce technician time and fatigue, and cost savings) was substantially improved with CCPM.