Evaluation of a PCR based assay for specific detection of Campylobacter jejuni in chicken washes

An assay for Campylobacter jejuni based on the polymerase chain reaction was developed in our laboratory and shown to be a sensitive and specific method to identify this bacterium in pure culture. This assay was evaluated as a method to rapidly detect C. jejuni attached to chicken carcasses. Chicken carcasses were sampled for PCR using three methods including pre-enrichment of the washes, direct plating of the washes and differential centrifugation of the washes prior to testing. It was found that plating the wash solutions on Campy Cefex plates prior to performing PCR was the most specific and reliable of the three treatment methods evaluated.