Detection of Campylobacter from Broiler Carcass Rinse Samples Utilizing the Tecra Visual Immunoassay (via)

Poultry meat is considered to be a major vector of transmission of Campylobacter, either directly, through consumption of poorly prepared product or cross-contamination, or indirectly, through introduction of the bacterium into the food production environment. Efficient detection of Campylobacter is intrinsic to the management of the pathogen during poultry production. The TECRA Campylobacter Visual Immunoassay (CAMVIA) protocol, enrichment in a proprietary TECRA Campylobacter enrichment broth followed by an ELISA, was compared with a conventional cultural method, with enrichment in Bolton medium (containing lysed horse blood), followed by plating onto Campy-cefex agar. Of the 398 broiler carcass rinses tested from 19 commercial processing plants, a total of 350 carcasses (88%) were found to be positive for Campylobacter by at least one method. The TECRA CAMVIA yielded 317 Campylobacter-positive results, four of which were false positive and 22 of which were false negative, while conventional enrichment and plating detected the bacterium in only 280 samples with 48 false negatives. These data demonstrate that the TECRA CAMVIA has a Corresponding author. TEL: 706-546-3484; FAX: 706-546-3771; EMAIL: jason.richardson@