Two rapid diagnostic procedures for the identification of Campylobacter jejuni/coli in food matrix

Campylobacter species, in particular C. jejuni and C. coli, cause infections which vary in symptoms, ranging from asymptomatic to severe chronic illness. The only ISO method for the detection of Campylobacter spp. until now has been the cultivation by selective enrichment and distinct conditions of growth taking several days to complete. We compared the Singlepath® Campylobacter test which involved 24 h of enrichment in Bolton broth, with PCR-based identification. Chicken meat salad with mayonnaise was spiked with C. jejuni and C. coli and the detection limit was determined. PCR provided the same detection limit of 102 CFU/ml for both strains. The immunotest Singlepath® was positive with C. jejuni only, the quantity of cells being 103 CFU/ml. C. coli was undetectable by Singlepath®, even the concentration of 105 did not reveal a positive reaction.