Comparison of PCR and Culture for Detection of Campylobacter Jejuni in Canine Feces.

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of human foodborne illness, and pet dogs can be a source of infection. Despite recognition of this zoonotic potential, tests for detection of C. jejuni are not performed routinely in dogs. We compared bacterial culture and molecular methods for the detection of C. jejuni directly from canine feces and from Bolton enrichment broth inoculated with feces in a multi-laboratory randomized-method test. Although culture offers the advantage of collection of isolates for further epidemiologic study, real-time PCR (rtPCR) to detect cpn60 from DNA isolated directly from canine feces was more sensitive than culture and more accurate than rtPCR using DNA isolated from enrichment cultures. The limit of detection for our cpn60 rtPCR was 320 cfu/g.