Isolation and identification of Arcobacter butzleri from poultry meat during slaughterhouse and retail stores in Tonekabon

Arcobacters are gram-negative and curved-shaped which are differentiated from campylobacter genus by growing up in presence of oxygen and low temperatures. Arcobacter butzleri is the most prevalent species of this genus known as zoonotic and new pathogen. With the aim of identification of the A.butzleri from poultry meat supplied in the slaughterhouses and retail stores, this study was conducted in the Tonekabon city. 140 samples of the poultry meat, including hen (97 samples), duck (25 samples), Turkey (18 samples) were collected, studied and tested in two levels of slaughterhouse (45 samples) and retail stores (95 samples) full randomly. For the purpose of isolation, preT-KB Technique was used and, in order to identify, phenotyping tests were applied. Out of 140 tested samples, 20 samples, at the rate of 14.28%, were infected with the A.butzleri all of which belonged to the samples of hen meat. The highest rate of infection was observed in skin followed by that in the abdominal contents and, finally, in the meat. Rate of frequency in the slaughter house samples was 17.77% and in the retail stores was 12.63%. The poultries are considered as the main reservoir of the Arcobacters. Presence of this bacterium in the poultry meat of the researched region can increase probability of transfer of this pathogenic agent to human through consumption of the feeding products. Thus, it appears that, in order to control infection with this bacterium in the cycle of production and consumption of the poultry meat, it must be careful sufficiently.