A survey on Campylobacter spp. in chicken presented in retail stores in Kermanshah city

Campylobacter (C.) jejuni is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in humans. Campylobacter spp. often colonize in a large amount in poultry guts. C. jejuni infection is usually caused by eating undercooked chicken. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of Campylobacter in chicken carcasses presented in Kermanshah city stores using the PCR technique. A total of 100 samples from the end of the chicken clone were prepared from live poultry markets. After preparation of the samples, DNAs were extracted by phenol-chloroform method and optical density of the nucleic acid was measured by spectrophotometer. PCR reactions were performed and positive samples were identified. Among 100 samples, frequency of Cadf, flaA and hipO was 30%, 31% and 20%, respectively. It means that 31 out of 100 samples were contaminated with Campylobacter species, 20 of which were C. jejuni (64.5%) and 10 were Campylobacter species other than C. jejuni (35.5%). Sixty nine samples were campylobacter negative, (69%). In one sample that only flaA was amplified, it seems that Cadf gene has been missed. Studies showed that the prevalence of Campylobacter species and Campylobacter jejuni infection is variable in different parts of Iran and the world. The reason has been attributed by different researchers to sampling sites of carcasses, different diagnostic techniques, sampling season and etc. According to the results, the importance of poultry meat was determined as a potential source of Campylobacter infection.