Occurrence of Erysipelothrix spp. in chicken meat parts from a processing plant

From March 1996 to March 1997, 153 domestic raw chicken meat samples, including 71 thigh, 50 outer breast muscle, and 32 white meat samples, from a processing plant located in a chicken abattoir in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, were examined for the presence of Erysipelothrix spp. Erysipelothrix spp. were isolated from 49 (30.0%) of the 153 chicken meat samples. Of 67 Erysipelothrix isolates, 65 and 2 isolates were identified as E rhusiopathiae and E. tonsillarum. E. rhusiopathiae and E. tonsillarum isolates were serotyped into 11 and 2 different serovars, respectively. These findings might indicate that domestic chicken meat is frequently contaminated with E. rhusiopathiae and seems to be a potential source of human Erysipelothrix infection.