Biotypes and serotypes of thermophilic campylobacters isolated from cattle, sheep and pig offal and other red meats

In this study we examined 730 faecal samples of offal (mainly liver), mince-meat and sausage meat collected from abattoirs and retail butchers' shops for campylobacters. Campylobacter jejuni or C. coli were isolated from 30.6, 10.5 and 6% of sheep, cattle and pig offal samples respectively. Specimens collected from abattoirs were, in general, more often contaminated than material obtained from retail butchers' shops. Only 1.4% of minced meats and sausage meats contained campylobacters. Most isolates (89.5%) were C. jejuni biotype 1 (Skirrow & Benjamin, 1980) of serotypes 1 and 2 (Penner & Hennessy, 1980). This study shows that animal offal is frequently contaminated with C. jejuni of biotypes and serotypes commonly isolated from human beings with campylobacter enteritis.