Prevalence and Distribution of Arcobacter Butzelri Virulence Genes in Poultry Slaughterhouse Effluent Samples in Tonekabon

Arcobacter butzelri is known as the cause of enteritis, abdominal cramps, bacteremia, and appendicitis in humans, it is also the cause of enteritis and abdominal pain in animals. It has been introduced as the most dangerous species for human health by the International Committee on Food Microbiology and recently as an important zoonotic pathogen. The aim of this study was isolatation and characterization of Arcobacter butzelri based on pathogenic genes (tlyA, ciaB, mviN) in different seasons. Therefore, 238 samples were collected from the effluent of poultry slaughterhouse in Tonekabon, Iran. The suspected colonies were identified using biochemical test and then confirmed using the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Out of 42 isolated of A. butzleri, the virulence genes were detected in 15 isolates. The results showed that ciaB gene was present in 13 strains with a frequency of 30.9%, mviN in 11 samples with a frequency of 26.2%, and tlyA gene in 9 samples with a frequency of 21.4%. The results also revealed that the highest frequency of A. butzelri was 8.4% in spring and the lowest rate was 1.2% in winter.