Prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni in eggs and poultry meat in New York State

The presence of Campylobacter jejuni was tested for but not isolated from any of 276 eggs sampled from 23 egg farms in New York State. The presence of C. jejuni was evaluated in broilers, kosher broilers, spent layers, Peking ducks, and turkeys. Four of five poultry dressing plants tested showed positive growth of C. jejuni on the 25-carcass samples at various stages of processing. Twenty to 100% of live birds sampled contained C. jejuni on the skin but 90 to 100% were contaminated after scalding and defeathering operations from contaminated birds and equipment. A three to four-fold increase in carcass contamination was observed after evisceration. The number of C. jejuni on the carcasses decreased after washing and chilling. The organisms did not survive the salting, rinsing, and chilling operations in a kosher processing plant. Several pieces of equipment, i.e., shackles, eviscerating troughs, and cooling tanks were contaminated with C. jejuni. This study illustrates how C. jejuni may be transmitted from the live bird to the final poultry product.