Development of a PCR assay suitable for Campylobacter spp. mass screening programs in broiler production

Campylobacter is the most common cause of human acute bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. In order to comply with the demands of consumers for food free of bacterial pathogens, a mass screening program for Campylobacter in Danish broilers has been carried out based on conventional bacterial culture techniques since 1998. However, using conventional culture methods is time consuming and laborious, and therefore a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Campylobacter detection assay suitable for mass screening of cloacal swab samples from broilers was developed. By comparing the PCR detection with conventional culture methods, significantly more samples were found positive for Campylobacter with the PCR method. The PCR method is rapid, sensitive and suitable for mass screening for Campylobacter in poultry. Using this PCR method Campylobacter can be detected within 15 h. Notably, the method can be applied to detect Campylobacter directly from chicken feces at the species level.