Evidence of broiler meat contamination with post-disinfection strains of Campylobacter jejuni from slaughterhouse.

While cross-contamination from equipment and scalding water containing Campylobacter jejuni is considered the main route of broiler carcass contamination during slaughtering, alternative sources of C. jejuni may have been overlooked because only a limited number of studies focus on sampling of one broiler flock along the entire food chain and not many include the slaughterhouse environment. In the present study we have traced the changes of C. jejuni genotypes within one broiler flock from the beginning of rearing to the final product at the slaughterhouse with the aim to evaluate the dynamics and possible sources of carcass contamination with C. jejuni. Genotyping of 345 isolates of C. jejuni by flaA-RFLP revealed ten different flaA genotypes of C. jejuni along the broiler meat production chain. Broiler fillets were mainly contaminated with flaA genotypes found on the surfaces of slaughterhouse equipment and in the scalding water after cleaning and disinfection. Finally, it was clearly demonstrated that C. jejuni isolates remaining in the slaughterhouse environment after disinfection is a potential source of broiler meat contamination. Thus, identification of the mechanisms that allow such strains to persist in the slaughterhouse and survive cleaning is important for the establishment of future practices that will ensure sufficient reduction of C. jejuni in the slaughterhouse environment.