Occurrence of Campylobacter jejuni in raw and pasteurized milk traded in Curitiba, Paraná state, Brazil

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni is one of the most bacteria that cause food-borne diseases worldwide. Campylobacteriosis is commonly associated with the consumption of poultry meat; however, several outbreaks of the disease have also been linked to the ingestion of milk, usually due to failures in the pasteurization or even by raw milk’s consumption. This study aimed to evaluate the occurrence of C. jejuni in samples of raw or pasteurized milk, as well as evaluate different methodologies for analysis of this microorganism. Thirty milk samples were analyzed, 15 samples of raw milk and 15 samples of pasteurized milk, acquired in the metropolitan region of Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil, between September 2012 and March 2013. The samples were subjected to counting of C. jejuni by direct plating and to the research after selective enrichment. None of the pasteurized milk samples showed C. jejuni contamination through both evaluated methods. By the direct plating method, were identified the contamination in two samples of raw milk, which presented counts of 4,0 x 10¹ and 1,65 x 10² CFU/mL. By using the selective enrichment method, C. jejuni was detected in four samples of raw milk, indicating the higher efficiency of the qualitative method in recovering injured cells and thus the higher reliability for detection of this pathogen. The occurrence of milk contaminated by C. jejuni should serve as a warning to guide preventive measures for the control and elimination of this pathogen in the production and manufacturing chain of the product.