Citation
Abdul Aziz, Saleha
(1997)
Campylobacter Jejuni In Broiler Chickens In Selangor, Malaysia.
PhD thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Abstract
In realising the importance of the poultry industry in Malaysia and the
public health implication of C.jejuni in man, a study was undertaken to
determine the prevalence, antibiotic resistance and plasmid profiles of C.jejuni
isolated from chickens and to identify factors associated with the risk of
colonization or infection by the organisms in chickens.
It was shown in this study that 72.6 % and 81.9 % of the commercial
broiler and village chickens respectively were colonized with C.jejuni. Of the
seventy six C.jejuni strains tested, all ( 100 %) were found to be resistant to
tetracycline while resistance to other antibiotics, namely ampicillin,
chloramphenicol, erythromycin, gentamicin , kanamycin and streptomycin ,
ranged from 25 - 75 % . This study also showed a rather large number, that is,
42 % of C. jejuni isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid although a
distinguishing feature of this species is its susceptibility to nalidixic acid . It was
found that there was no correlation between the presence of plasmid and
resistance to antibiotics. This is because in some isolates which showed
antibiotic resistance, no plasmid was detected . An analysis of the plasmid profiles of seventy one C.jejuni isolates , 59 % harboured 1-4 plasmids,
demonstrating 14 different patterns with the sizes ranging from 4.5 to 70. 3 kb .
This study also demonstrated that colonization of chickens with C.jejuni
occurred at two to three weeks of age. The study could not identify clearly the
factors which acted as the sources of C.jejuni in chickens. However,
colonization is found to be associated with poor farm management and hygienic
practices. Farms which practise good management and hygienic procedures tend
to have low rate of colonization by C.jejuni . Such practices include the use of
treated water, control of pests and flying birds from entering poultry houses and
restriction in the movement of personnel .
This is the first time that a detailed study on Campylobacter in chickens
was conducted, particularly on factors associated with colonization by C. jejuni.
It can be concluded from this study that C. jenuni is prevalent and widespread in
chicken populations in Malaysia. During slaughtering of these chickens and
during processing, poultry carcasses and offals may become contaminated with
C. jejuni. Consequently if such poultry meat and offals are undercooked or
caused cross contamination of ready-to-eat food, then upon consumption of such
foods causes Campylobacter enteritis in man . Hence, it is recommended that
farmer s and poultry processing plant operators be made aware of the importance
of campylobacters to human health and to implement appropriate measures to
control the infection in poultry.
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