1Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Salem- 636 004, India.
2Dept. of Dairy Science, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal-637 002, India.
Dept. of Dairy Science, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai-600 007, India.
Online published on 5 September, 2012.
This study was contemplated to investigate the season wise prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni from a total of 3099 raw milk samples collected aseptically from different local vendors, retail outlets and hotels from various zones of Chennai. A total of 42 C.jejuni isolates were obtained with a prevalence level of 1.36%. Seasonal variation in the prevalence of C. jejuni in milk is observed, with a peak in hot weather season (57.1%) followed by south west monsoon season (26.2%) and lowest in cold weather season (4.8%). On statistical analysis, Chi-Square test indicated that the prevalence of C.jejuni was correlated with season i.e. highly significant (P ≤ 0.01). The higher prevalence of C.jejuni in hot weather season is probably attributable to the availability of conducive optimal growth requirements of the organisms and hygienic measures practised in the farm environment and transport of milk.
C. Jejuni, Milk, Seasonal variation
