Author(s): J. J. Ghazwan, K. M. Bindayna, A. Qareeballa Yousif , and G. A. Botta
Article publication date: 2009-06-01
Vol. 27 No. 1/2 (yearly), pp. 7-15.
159
Keywords
Campylobacter jejuni, poultry, Skirrow blood agar, Campy-Cefex agar, mCCDA.
Abstract
Campylobacter jejuni is a major etiological agent in human diarrheal disease. Differentiating
between C. jejuni and C. coli represents a diagnostic challenge. Optimal culturing procedure for
Campylobacter spp. from live broilers carcass, stool and liver tissue are needed for epidemiological
studies. This study was conducted to assess the performance of different media for culturing and
isolation of Campylobacter spp. from different biological specimen obtained from commercial
broilers. Three media selective for Campylobacter were assessed: campy-cefex (CD), modified
charcoal cefoperazone deoxychocolate agar (mCCD) and Skirrow media. One hundred samples of
skin rinse, liver tissue, and feces from broiler chicken were cultured into three selective media for
Campylobacter. A semi-nested PCR assay was used for confirmation. Fifty five samples and two
samples were positive for C. jejuni and C. coli, respectively. Selectivity of each medium after 48
hr incubation were 55% mCCDA, 45% Campy-cefex, and 24% Skirrow medium. The difference
in performance of both mCCDA and Campy-cefex compared to Skirrow’s medium proved to be
statistically significant (P ≤ 0.01 and P ≤ 0.05, respectively). Performance of the different culture
media was not influenced by the type of biological specimens tested. mCCDA was found in our
hands to be more selective and specific than the other two media.