Abstract

Poultry meats have been considered the primary source of campylobacteriosis infections among various foods. This study was performed to detect the presence of Campylobacter species in retail chicken meat and organs. Eighty-six samples (thighs = 21, breasts = 16, legs = 21, wings =17, and livers = 11) were collected from supermarkets and retail shops in Jazan city. Cultivation and isolation of Campylobacter species were carried out according to the protocol described by ISO 10272-1: 2017. Sixty-one samples (representing six companies) showed growth on mCCDA agar plates after incubation. In contrast, no bacterial growth was observed in samples representing one company. Bacterial isolates (n = 122) were subjected to a Campylobacter Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction (Multiplex-PCR) for the identification of the genus Campylobacter (816 bp) and the three Campylobacter spp.: Campylobacter jejuni (323 bp), Campylobacter coli (126 bp), and Campylobacter lari (251 bp). The PCR products used to identify the Campylobacter spp. came only from the positive controls but not from the isolates. Because of this, all isolates were found to be non-Campylobacter spp (bacteria other than Campylobacter). Amplifying and sequencing the 16S rRNA gene allowed for identification of 19 isolates to confirm this result. Sequence analysis on the NCBI website revealed that sixteen isolates (84%) were identified as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and three isolates (16%) as Proteus mirabilis. Furthermore, six of the sequenced isolates were subjected to an antibiotic susceptibility test using eight antibiotics, and results showed that all isolates were multidrug resistant.

Key words: Campylobacter (jejuni, coli, lari), chicken meat, multiplex-polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, antibiotic resistance.