Campylobacter species isolated from poultry and humans, and their analysis using PFGE in southern Brazil

• Poultry products are mainly contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni.
• Liver is the poultry product with most contamination.
• The source of contamination of poultry products come from infected poultry flocks.
• Isolates from poultry belonging to same flock tend to have identical PFGE profiles.

Campylobacteriosis is a bacterial disease transmitted to humans through ingestion of contaminated food. Six hundred samples were collected, 200 from human stool samples, 200 from poultry products and 200 from poultry feces in Southern Brazil, and then inoculated on blood agar plates. A total of 58% of the poultry feces, 17% of the poultry meat, and 2% the of human stools tested positive for Campylobacter. Positive Campylobacter colonies were identified as Campylobacter jejuni or Campylobactercoli by multiplex PCR. Campylobacter isolates were analyzed using PFGE to compare different profiles according to the source. This study demonstrated that there are different Campylobacter clones distributed in different aviaries in Southern Brazil. In addition, PFGE molecular profiles suggested that broilers can be a source of contamination of poultry products. However, the human isolate studied did not show any relationship with other strains examined.