Abstract

Human campylobacteriosis is associated with contaminated foods and drinks or direct contact with the source of organisms. Broilers are the main reservoir of Campylobacter as well as the primary source of meat in many countries. The microorganism load in broilers is converted into the rate of food-related campylobacteriosis. The present study aimed to determine the Campylobacter jejuni colonization load in commercial broiler chickens in east coast Malaysia. Cloaca swabs were taken after consent from the owners of selected broiler farms in Kelantan, Malaysia. Swabs were kept in Amie’s transport media before being placed in enrichment broth. The DNA was extracted directly from the broth and specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was performed, which targeted hippurate hydrolase (hipO) gene of C. jejuni. Three broiler farms from different districts in Kelantan were identified. A total of 120 cloacal swabs were analyzed, 20% (24/120) confirmed by PCR-positive for hipO gene when the amplified product with the band size of approximately 344 bases per was visualized on agarose gel. It is concluded that the prevalence of C. jejuni colonization among living broiler flocks in Kelantan was at a low level. However, further studies with bigger sample size and involvement of more farms are needed.