Predominant Campylobacter jejuni sequence types persist in Finnish chicken production

Ann-Katrin Llarena; Adeline Huneau; Marjaana Hakkinen; Marja-Liisa Hänninen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0116585

Predominant Campylobacter jejuni sequence types persist in Finnish chicken production

PLoS One. 2015 Feb 20;10(2):e0116585. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116585. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Ann-Katrin Llarena¹, Adeline Huneau², Marjaana Hakkinen³, Marja-Liisa Hänninen¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
² Anses, Ploufragan-Plouzané laboratory, BP 53, 22440, Ploufragan, France.
³ Food and Feed Microbiology Research Unit, Research and Laboratory Department, Finnish Food Safety Authority, Evira, Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

Consumption and handling of chicken meat are well-known risk factors for acquiring campylobacteriosis. This study aimed to describe the Campylobacter jejuni population in Finnish chickens and to investigate the distribution of C. jejuni genotypes on Finnish chicken farms over a period of several years. We included 89.8% of the total C. jejuni population recovered in Finnish poultry during 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2012 and used multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to characterize the 380 isolates. The typing data was combined with isolate information on collection-time and farm of origin. The C. jejuni prevalence in chicken slaughter batches was low (mean 3.0%, CI95% [1.8%, 4.2%]), and approximately a quarter of Finnish chicken farms delivered at least one positive chicken batch yearly. In general, the C. jejuni population was diverse as represented by a total of 63 sequence types (ST), but certain predominant MLST lineages were identified. ST-45 clonal complex (CC) accounted for 53% of the isolates while ST-21 CC and ST-677 CC covered 11% and 9% of the isolates, respectively. Less than half of the Campylobacter positive farms (40.3%) delivered C. jejuni-contaminated batches in multiple years, but the genotypes (ST and PFGE types) generally varied from year to year. Therefore, no evidence for a persistent C. jejuni source for the colonization of Finnish chickens emerged. Finnish chicken farms are infrequently contaminated with C. jejuni compared to other European Union (EU) countries, making Finland a valuable model for further epidemiological studies of the C. jejuni in poultry flocks.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Abattoirs
Animals
Bacterial Typing Techniques
Campylobacter jejuni / genetics*
Campylobacter jejuni / isolation & purification
Chickens / microbiology*
Finland
Genotype
Multilocus Sequence Typing

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry grant [No. MMM2054/312/11] and by Coordination of European Research on Emerging and Major Infectious Diseases of Livestock (EMIDA ERA-NET) (Dnro 776/312/2012) through the project entitled Biology and Control of Campylobacter in the Chicken Supply Chain (CamChain). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.