Campylobacter and Chicken
Usually Salmonella is associated with chicken, but chicken is more often the cause of Campylobacter, one of the leading caused of food poisoning in the United States.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):
Many chicken flocks are silently infected with Campylobacter; that is, the chickens are infected with the organism but show no signs of illness. Campylobacter can be easily spread from bird to bird through a common water source or through contact with infected feces. When an infected bird is slaughtered, Campylobacter can be transferred from the intestines to the meat. More than half of the raw chicken in the United States market has Campylobacter on it. Campylobacter is also present in the giblets, especially the liver.
The following is an excerpt from an FDA Consumer article published in 1999. It discusses the results of a study of Campylobacter and chicken. Although the article is several years old, the problem of Campylobacter and chicken persists. It is estimated that over half of the chicken processed in the United States is infected with Campylobacter. Two important prevention tips: 1. Cook chicken thoroughly; 2. Wash hands and cooking areas well to prevent cross-contamination.
Concerns About Chicken
Although found in many farm animals, Campylobacter in poultry is causing experts the most concern. There have been several studies pointing to high levels of Campylobacter present on poultry at the retail level, including a recent two-year Minnesota Department of Health study that found that 88 percent of poultry sampled from local supermarkets tested positive for the bacteria.
"The retail study was in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture; their inspectors went to supermarkets throughout the St. Paul/Minneapolis Twin Cities area to cover a variety of supermarket types, from big chains to mom-and-pop stores," says Kirk E. Smith, D.V.M., a Minnesota state epidemiologist who participated in the study.
Many prior surveys have found Campylobacter contamination rates of between 40 and 60 percent, he says. "But 88 percent--this degree [of contamination] surprised even me," he admits.
In studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's poultry microbiological safety research unit, more than 90 percent of poultry tested positive for Campylobacter, in levels ranging from one cell to over a million cells per bird.
Norman J. Stern, Ph.D., research leader for the unit, says the infection of poultry broiler flocks typically occurs at week three in the six-week growing cycle. It's not unusual, he says, for Campylobacter to infect the entire flock.
Things only get worse by the time the chickens reach the processing plant, he says. USDA studies have found a hundredfold increase in bacteria amounts on the birds' exterior from that detected on the farm. "The exterior contamination represents consumer exposure," he explains.
To help reduce that exposure, Stern says the poultry industry is currently participating in a USDA-led study that will cover "every element of production where chickens can become infected, from ... shells to farmers' boots to wild bird droppings. When we're done ... we will be able to genetically fingerprint the organism so we can ascribe a relationship between various environmental sources and the spread of pathogens." The study was slated to end in September.
"Concerns about Chicken" is from the article "Campylobacter: Low-Profile Bug Is Food Poisoning Leader" by Audrey Hingley.