Short communication Assessment of the Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli in broiler chicken ceca by conventional culture and loop-mediated isothermal amplification method Islam Ibrahim Sabike a, d , Ryoko Uemura a, b , Yumi Kirino b , Hirohisa Mekata b, c , Satoshi Sekiguchi a, b , Ayman Samir Farid e , Yoshitaka Goto a, b , Yoichiro Horii a, b , Wataru Yamazaki a, b, * a Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan b Center for Animal Disease Control, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan c Organization for Promotion of Tenure Track, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan d Department of Food Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt e Department of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt article info Article history: Received 30 August 2016 Received in revised form 26 November 2016 Accepted 28 November 2016 Available online 29 November 2016 Keywords: Food poisoning Prevalence Campylobacter Seasonal change Broiler chicken ceca LAMP abstract In a two-year survey of the 24 Japanese broiler chicken flocks at 9 farms from 2013 to 2014, C. jejuni/C. coli prevalence was assessed in a total of 131 slaughtered broiler chicken cecal samples by conventional culture methods and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. While 93 samples were C. jejuni/C. coli-negative, 38 (29.0%) showed Campylobacter loads of between 6.4 and 9.0 log CFU/g of ceca in conventional culture methods. The performance of LAMP assay was 100% accurate in terms of diag- nostic sensitivity (38/38), specificity (93/93). Furthermore, LAMP assay enabled direct screening of C. jejuni and C. coli in cecal samples from broiler chicken chickens as rapid and cost-effective detection within 90 min and less than 1 US dollar, which can help monitor release of Campylobacter -contaminated chicken into the food chain, thereby reducing the incidence and public health risk of campylobacteriosis. Seasonal changes in C. jejuni and C. coli prevalence in broiler chicken ceca were significantly correlated with the frequency of food poisoning incidents caused by these bacteria in Japan. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The rising concern of consumers for food safety, in addition to the continuous public health impacts of foodborne campylo- bacteriosis, particularly from chicken, has prompted many gov- ernments and food safety agencies to target the prevention and/or control of this pathogen. Food safety agencies have reported that globally, Campylobacter is the most common bacterial cause of human gastroenteritis and a small percentage of patients with acute Campylobacter infection experience long-term and poten- tially serious sequelae (WHO, 2013, p. 57). The two most important species in food-borne infections in humans are Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli, and a major route of human infection is the handling and consumption of poultry meat (Jacobs-Reitsma, Bolder, & Mulder, 1994; Yamazaki et al.,2009, 2016). Broiler chicken intestine, especially the cecum, has a high car- riage rate of Campylobacter , and previous investigators have re- ported rates reaching up to 100% of total broiler chicken cecal samples tested (Berrang, Buhr, & Cason, 2000; Jacobs-Reitsma et al.1994). In addition, Rudi, et al. (2004) reported that Campylo- bacter content was higher in cecal samples than in fecal samples. If the cecum is handled improperly during processing and ruptures, it can release a large quantity of Campylobacter onto the carcass, potentially cross-contaminating numerous other broiler chicken carcasses. Although quantitative analyses of ceca have been re- ported to evaluate contamination risk to carcasses (Berndtson, * Corresponding author. Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agricul- ture, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan. E-mail addresses: Islam.sabek@fvtm.bu.edu.eg (I.I. Sabike), uemurary@cc. miyazaki-u.ac.jp (R. Uemura), kirinoyumi@cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp (Y. Kirino), mekata@cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp (H. Mekata), sekiguchi@cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp (S. Sekiguchi), aymansf@yahoo.com (A.S. Farid), a0d502u@cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp (Y. Goto), horii@cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp (Y. Horii), yamazakiw@cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp (W. Yamazaki). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Food Control journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodcont http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.11.037 0956-7135/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Food Control 74 (2017) 107e111