Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the Salmonella and Campylobacter prevalence in broiler ceca and MPPU processed ready-to-cook carcasses.
Methods: Straight-run Hubbard x Cobb broilers were reared for 38-day on clean shavings or built-up litter. A total of 139 carcasses (68 from clean shavings and 71 from built-up litter) were processed at a MPPU facility. For Salmonella, ceca and carcasses were preenriched (buffered peptone water), secondly-enriched (Rappaport-Vassiliadis medium) and streak-plated onto XLT-4 and HardyCHROM™-agar, and further confirmed by API 20E kit. For Campylobacter, ceca and carcasses were enriched in Bolton broth and on modified-campy-cefex-agar under microaerophilic conditions (5.0% O2, 10% CO2, and 85% N2) at 42◦C for 48 to 72h, and further confirmed using Campylobacter Latex Test Kit and Gram staining. A qPCR-test (CadF-gene) was conducted to identify the prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in ceca and on carcasses. Data (three replicates/~23 to 26 samples/replicate) were analyzed using Chi-Square of SAS.
Results: Salmonella was not detected in any of the cecal samples, while Salmonella was present in 2.8% of the carcasses from the built-up litter. The prevalence of Campylobacter decreased (P<0.05) in ceca (64.6% vs. 84.6%) and carcasses (50% vs. 56.3%) obtained from broilers reared on clean shavings compared to those reared on built-up litter. The prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni was lower (P<0.05) on clean shaving treated birds ceca (20.0% vs. 27.3%) and carcasses (22.2% vs. 42.2%) than built-up litter samples. However, Campylobacter coli was present higher (P<0.05) in clean shavings birds ceca (31.8% vs. 27.3%) and carcasses (65.1% vs. 37.8%) than built-up litter treated samples.
Significance: Raising broilers on clean shavings as opposed to built-up litter may decrease the presence of foodborne pathogens. But postharvest antimicrobial treatment is still necessary to control Campylobacter on MPPU produced broiler carcasses.