Indian Journal of Poultry Science

The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. from live birds and their eggs both by conventional culture and PCR methods. Out of the total 50 samples from cloacal region of the birds screened for the presence of Campylobacter spp. by conventional method, 24% samples were found positive for Campylobacter spp. However, PCR method detected 30% cloacal samples as positive for Campylobacter spp. From samples of 50 chicken eggs collected from the same poultry birds, 6% were found positive for Campylobacter spp.by conventional culture method while detection rate of Campylobacter spp by PCR method was found to be slightly higher (8%). Among the species of Campylobacter isolated in this study, C. jejuni was found to the predominant species with its higher rate of detection (66.6%) as compared to C. coli (33.3%). While comparing conventional and PCR methods for detection of Campylobacter spp. from live poultry (cloacal swabs) and chicken egg samples, PCR holds promise as sensitive and rapid method. All the eggs found positive for Campylobacter spp. were from the same birds which were found positive for Campylobacter spp. indicating that faecal contamination during egg laying in cloacal region may be the source of these pathogens.