Prevalence of Campylobacter jejun/coli in Poultry: Comparison between three Culture Media

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.