Campylobacter jejuni is the major cause of human gastroenteritis worldwide. Under stress conditions, C. jejuni can enter a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. We found that the C. jejuni was able to enter a VBNC state by prolonged incubation at 4°C. The standard isolation methods using pre-enrichment steps in Bolton broth or Preston broth could not detect the VBNC cells in spiked chicken meat. The transcription levels of virulence-associated genes (flaA, flaB, cadF, ciaB, cdtA, cdtB and cdtC) were expressed in VBNC cells but in low levels. The VBNC cells retained the ability to invade Caco-2 human intestinal epithelial cells in vitro. In most cases, VBNC cells failed to resuscitate in Caco-2 cells, but in some experiments, they formed colonies after co-incubation with host cells. Collectively, C. jejuni enters into a VBNC state at 4°C and the VBNC C. jejuni remains virulent which may possibly lead to disease in humans. C. jejuni in VBNC state is a potential concern for food safety.

A multidisciplinary journal that focuses on public health and technology, public health informatics, mass media campaigns, surveillance, and innovation in public health practice and research. Also dedicated to rapid open data sharing during epidemics.

The prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni in wild birds is a potential hazard for human and animal health. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of C. jejuni in wild birds in Tokachi area, Hokkaido, Japan and investigate their virulence in vitro. In total, 173 cloacal swabs from individual wild birds were collected for the detection of Campylobacter spp. Thirty four samples (19.7%) were positive for Campylobacter of which 94.1% (32/34 samples) were C. jejuni. Additionally, one C. coli and one C. fetus were isolated. Seven C. jejuni isolates (one from crows and the other from pigeons) had important virulence genes including all three CDT genes (cdtA, cdtB and cdtC) and fiaA,flaB, ciaB and cadF, and the other isolates were lacking cdtA gene. Further studies on in vitro virulence-associated phenotypes, such as motility assay on soft agar and invasion assay in Caco-2 cells, were performed. The wild bird C. jejuni isolates adhered and invaded human cells. Although the numbers of viable intracellular bacteria of wild bird isolates were lower than a type strain NCTC11168, they persisted at 48-hr and underwent replication in host cells.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected the food supply chain, retailers, and consumers owing to infection awareness. This study evaluated the impacts COVID-19 on ASF retailers’ businesses and consumers’ livelihoods, as well as their knowledge toward the disease, attitudes, and food safety practices to prevent infections. The study includes a cross-sectional component that was conducted in urban/peri-urban (U/PU) and rural areas in Chiang Mai province. In another part of the study, a structured questionnaire was developed for animal source food (ASF) retailers and consumers, with three primary parts for data analysis: general information, COVID-19 impacts, and knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) assessment. Data corresponding to three periods of interest (before the COVID-19 outbreak, during partial lockdown, and present) were gathered and analyzed. In this study, 155 retailers and 150 consumers participated, of which the majority of the respondents were female (70.3% and 82.7%, respectively) with average ages of 47.4 and 44.9 years, respectively. The most noticeable effect of COVID-19 was a decline in income for retailers and consumers. The KAP scores of consumers in both areas were not significantly different, whereas the retailer attitudes toward COVID-19 prevention and food safety practices scored more highly in rural areas than in U/PU. During the partial lockdown, food safety practices significantly improved relative to the time preceding the outbreak, and these practices have remained constant to the present day. The results revealed that gender, age group, business type, and type of ASF retailers were associated with the KAP of the retailers, whereas gender, age group, education, number of family members, and occupation were associated with the KAP of the consumers. Our findings provide in-depth information about the effects of COVID-19 on ASF retailers and consumers, as well as their KAP regarding the outbreak and food safety, which may serve as support in developing policies for improved health and food safety.

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and quantify the number of Listeria monocytogenes in fresh chicken carcasses sold in traditional markets and supermarkets in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, and to determine the antimicrobial resistance patterns of the isolated L. monocytogenes strains. The overall prevalence of L. monocytogenes in chicken carcasses was 15.8% (29/184). When comparing samples from traditional markets and supermarkets, no significant difference in the L. monocytogenes prevalence was detectable (15.2 versus 16.3%). Of the samples, 97.3% had L. monocytogenes counts <100 CFU/g, 2.2% had L. monocytogenes counts between 101 and 1,000 CFU/g, and 0.5% had L. monocytogenes counts of 1,001 to 10,000 CFU/g. Of the isolates, 27.6% were resistant to at least one of the 10 antimicrobials tested, with the major resistant phenotypes to penicillin (17.2%), ampicillin (6.9%), and erythromycin (6.9%). All 29 isolates recovered in this study were grouped into the molecular serogroup IIb, comprising the serovars 1/2b, 3b, and 7.

This study was performed to determine the prevalence and to semiquantify Campylobacter spp. on chicken meat samples at 4 selected local wet markets i