Studio di prevalenza, conta e tipizzazione molecolare di Campylobacter spp. nei broiler macellati nella Regione Marche - Survey on Campylobacter spp. prevalence, counts and molecular typing in broiler chickens slaughtered in the Marche Region (Italy)

Campylobacter has been identified as one of the most frequent causes of bacterial foodborne enteric disease, with more than 200,000 confirmed human cases/year (EFSA-ECDC 2015) and 48 cases per 100,000 population in European Union countries. Poultry has been recognised as elective reservoir for the transmission of Campylobacter to humans and, because of the significant impact that Campylobacteriosis has on public health and socio-economic system, the EU has adopted an integrated approach to food safety, involving the entire chain, from farm to fork. In fact, in 2008 a reference survey was carried out at slaughterhouse level to compare prevalence and levels of contamination by Campylobacter spp. in batches and carcasses of broilers in the European Union (EFSA JOURNAL 2010). This was followed by EFSA's 2010 and 2011 opinions which led the European Commission to set up a process hygiene criterion for Campylobacter spp. in the carcasses of broilers. This criterion for Campylobacter will follow the same test approach of the criterion established for Salmonella, that is with the use of the same samples of neck skin, as described in Regulation (EU) 2017/1495 of the Commission of 23 August 2017 that modifies the Regulation (EC) n. 2073/2005 and which will be applied starting from 1/01/2018. Given the new legislation and the fact that scientific studies have shown that the risk related to chicken meat is strongly associated with the high charges of Campylobacter spp. rather than its dissemination (EFSA, 2009; EFSA, 2011; Nauta et al., 2009), the purpose of this study, carried out by the Laboratory of Diagnostics of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Umbria e delle Marche - Seat of Fermo in the year 2017, was a quantitative approach to monitoring Campylobacter spp. in broilers at slaughterhouse and its molecular typing. The most representative poultry slaughterhouse of the Marche Region was chosen as the place of collection, where, during the year, caecal content, skin of the neck and skin of the breast of broiler chickens were taken from each batch. These samples were subjected to Campylobacter spp. counts, molecular typing, phylogenetic analysis using Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and to antibiotic resistance studies. For the advanced genotypic analysis of the strains isolated from the different matrices and the different batches at slaughterhouse, we have been collaborating with the National Campylobacter Reference Laboratory (IZSAM Teramo). The construction of the phylogenetic tree, the interpretation of the correlations among the strains, the study of the antibiotic resistance, as well as the evaluation of any cross-contamination or impacts related to the management of breeding, are still ongoing. The future goal, for the year 2018, is the study of any phylogenetic correlation between Campylobacter spp. isolated in recent years from chicken breasts, belonging to the same companies sampled at the slaughterhouse in the year 2017, and the strains isolated in this project. Our attention will also be directed to the human field, in order to obtain a complete phylogenetic correlation study that includes strains isolated in the farm, at slaughterhouse, in the canteens and in the hospitals