Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter species isolated from chicken carcasses during processing in Iran.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. isolated from chicken carcasses during different stages of broiler processing in a major commercial poultry processing plant in southwestern Iran. Overall, 84 chicken carcasses were sampled from 4 sites along the processing line during a total of 7 visits. In addition, 14 water samples from the chiller tank were taken. Using the cultural method, 186 of 336 (55.4%) carcasses were positive for Campylobacter. Campylobacter jejuni was more frequently isolated (89.4%) than Campylobacter coli (10.6%). The frequency of Campylobacter spp. on carcasses was 54.8% after defeathering, 51.2% after evisceration, 69.0% 20 min after the chilling period started, and 46.4% 24 h after the chilling period completed. Campylobacter was positive in 85.7% of the samples taken from the chilling water. The frequency of Campylobacter spp.-positive carcasses was reduced in complete chilled chickens but not during the slaughtering process. Susceptibilities of Campylobacter isolates were determined for 10 antimicrobial drugs using the disk diffusion method. Of the 198 Campylobacter isolates tested, 92.9% were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents. Resistance to tetracycline was the most common finding (78.3%), followed by resistance to ciprofloxacin (62.1%), nalidixic acid (58.6%), and enrofloxacin (44.4%).