Abstract
Campylobacter, one of the emerging zoonotic pathogens, is worldwide in distribution. This thermo-tolerant pathogen is one of the leading causes of diarrhea and gastroenteritis in humans. The main sources of infection are contaminated meat and meat products. A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of Campylobacter species in retail meat in the Lahore district of Pakistan from September 2014 to January 2015. A total of 600 samples (200 samples each of beef, mutton, and chicken) were collected from retail shops through convenience sampling and preceded for Campylobacter contamination using the ISO 10272-1:2006 (E) method. Campylobacter was present in all three types of meat; the highest prevalence being recorded in chicken meat (29%) followed by mutton (18%) and beef (15.5%). Campylobacters were isolated from 125 (20.8%) samples out of the 600 meat samples. Campylobacter jejuni was more common (74.4%) than C. coli (25.6%). The highest number of Campylobacters were isolated in September (25/125) and November (23/125) while low numbers were isolated in October and December with isolates rate of (17/125) and (19/125), respectively. The highest prevalence was seen in the oldest and overpopulated town of Data Gunj Bakhsh 16% (20/125) while lowest prevalence was seen in a newer and least populated town of Gulburg (7/125). These results indicate that Campylobacter species are circulating in various meat sources in Lahore and that it may pose a threat to public health.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 42-45 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Acta Tropica |
Volume | 185 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We are thankful to Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (Islamabad) for supporting this study under Indigenous 5000 PhD fellowship program, Grant Number 112-26353-2AV1-075 .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.
Keywords
- Campylobacter
- Lahore
- Meat
- Public health
- Zoonosis