Frequency of Occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in Meats and Their Subsequent Sub-Typing Using RAPD and PCR-RFLP

Abstract

Reports of salmonellosis in Northern Ireland exceeded those of campylobacter infections until 1990 but subsequently there has been a marked increase in campylobacter infections and Campylobacter spp. are now the major cause of food-borne infections in the province.¹ Since meats are often implicated in cases of campylobacter food-poisoning a survey of raw meats, both at the abattoir and in retail outlets, for the presence of campylobacters was undertaken. In conjunction with the meat survey two genetic methods of subtyping campylobacters, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) method^8,9 and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) based on the method of Nachamkin et al (1993), were evaluated to see if they could provide appropriate tools for sub-typing any isolates obtained during the survey. Conventional phenotyping and Penner serotyping was also conducted for comparative purposes. The aim was to find the best method for comparing sub-types and hence determining if the isolates were of a sporadic nature, or from a common source.