Occurrence and determination of Helicobacter pullorum in conventional broiler-chicken farms in the Czech Republic between 2013 and 2014

The aim of this study was to monitor occurrence of Helicobacter spp. in 29 conventional broiler-chicken farms, in the Czech Republic, of which 6 were sampled repeatedly. In the period February 2013 March 2014, a total of 615 samples of caecum content of slaughtered broilers were examined. Detection was performed by optimized cultivation techniques using Brucella Agar with 5 % sheep blood and by PCR method. Identification at genus and species level was performed using PCR-RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism). Presence of Helicobacterspp. was confirmed in 248 broilers (40.32 %). Using PCR-RFLP method with the restriction enzyme ApaLl, these 248 positive isolates were identified as Helicobacter pullorum. Occurrence of this new potential foodborne pathogen was confirmed in 17 conventional farms, the within-farm prevalence ranged from 40-100 %. Seasonality was not statistically significant. The results show that Helicobacter pullorum is another potential foodborne pathogen in the order Campylobacterales with a high incidence in the digestive tract of broiler chickens and may present a potential risk for human consumers. In order to ensure the safety of food of animal origin, it appears to be essential to pay attention to monitoring and further characterization of this pathogen in poultry farms in Central Europe.