Evaluating the Frequency of Arcobacter in Fecal Samples from Slaughterhouse Workers and Poultry Meat Sellers in Arak City

In recent years, Arcobacter has been isolated from various samples. It can cause diseases both in human and animal and be transmitted to human through water, food, and continuous contact with poultry meat. Therefore, people exposed to the contaminated meat such as chicken meat can be exposed to Arcobacter too and as a part of its transmission route. Thus, in this study, the frequency of Arcobacter species was evaluated in slaughterhouse workers and poultry meat sellers and healthy people not exposed to the poultry meat. Materials & Methods: In the present study, 85 slaughterhouse workers and poultry meat sellers (exposed group) and 85 healthy people with other jobs (non-exposed group) were studied. By simple method, fecal samples were collected from Health Center of Arak city and tested by 4 methods including direct observation, culture, PCR, and m-PCR. Findings: Campylobacter-like organisms were observed in 32 out of 85 samples from the exposed group and in 11 out of 85 samples from the non-exposed group by microscopic observation method. No sample was positive by culture method. However, by PCR method, the frequency of Arcobacter strains was 20 in the exposed group and 6 in the non-exposed group. According to the m-PCR results, among the 170 samples, 21 A. cryaerophilus and 14 A. butzleri strains were identified. Conclusion: Chicken carcass are introduced as a main reservoir for Arcobacter; therefore, continuous contact with poultry meat can have a significant effect on the transmission of Arcobacter strains to individuals. Therefore, this study showed that the frequency of Arcobacter strains is more in exposed group than in non-exposed group.