Identification of pathogenic genes in Campylobacter jejuni isolated from broiler carcasses and broiler slaughterhouses

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most common causes of foodborne diseases worldwide. There are few reports on Campylobacter strains isolated from Latin-American countries. Here, 140 C. jejuni strains isolated from cloacal and transport boxes swabs, water from chiller tanks, and broiler carcasses of five poultry companies in Southern Brazil were identified using phenotypic and genotypic methods. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to analyze eight C. jejuni virulence markers: fla A, cad F, and invasion-associated ( iam ) genes, cdt ABC operon (associated with the cytolethal distending toxin), and plasmidial vir B11 and wla N genes were present in 78.5%, 77.8%, 0%, 74.2%, 22.1%, and 10.7% of samples, respectively. There were 25 different virulence profiles: 1 ( cdt A , cdt B , cdt C , fla A , and cad F), 2 ( cdt A , cdt B , cdt C , fla A , cad F , and vir B11), and 3 ( cdt A, cdt B , cdt C , fla A, cad F , and wla N) were the most common (> 60% of strains). We provide insight into factors related to the occurrence of this pathogen and their epidemiology.