Prevalence, virulence gene distribution and genetic diversity of Arcobacter in food samples in Germany.

This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of Arcobacter spp. in food samples in Germany. In addition, the presence of putative virulence genes and the genetic diversity was tested for Arcobacter (A.) butzleri strains isolated during this study. The prevalence of Arcobacter spp. was 34% in fish meat, 26.8% in poultry meat and 2% in minced meat (beef and pork). All investigated A. butzleri isolates carried the genes cadF, ciaB, cj1349, mviN and pldA. The gene tlyA was detectable in 97.5% of the strains. Lower detection rates were observed for hecA (47.5%), hecB (45%), iroE (40%) and irgA (35%). Genotyping by ERIC-PCR demonstrated a high genetic diversity of A. butzleri strains from different foods. In conclusion, this study shows that about one third of fish meat and poultry meat samples contained Arcobacter spp. These data highlight the need to strengthen our effort to elucidate the importance ofArcobacter on veterinary public health.