One hundred random fresh raw chicken breast and thigh samples (50 of each) were collected
from an automatic poultry dressing plant in Ismailia city, Egypt for bacteriological and
genetic detection of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella species. Out of the examined 100
samples, only 4 (4%) samples were contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, while non-O157 E. coli
isolates represented 11% of E. coli isolates which were serotyped as O114:H21, O127:H6, O126 and O26 with incidence of 2, 4, 3, and 2% of the examined samples, respectively. On the other
side, Salmonellae were detected in 11 samples (11%) and serologically identified as S. Typhi, S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis with the incidence of 1, 3, and 7%, respectively. Further,
PCR investigation indicated that fliC gene was detected in all 4 isolates of E. coli O157 with
incidence of 100%; while, fimA gene in 5 Salmonella isolates was detected in 4 (80%) of
such examined isolates. Accordingly, it is obvious that raw chicken meat cuts were loaded
with pathogenic foodborne bacteria exposing consumers to the high risk of food poisoning.
Moreover, the results cleared that bacteriological traditional methods for detection of bacteria
contaminating foods are labor-intensive and time-consuming, but PCR are more rapid and
highly sensitive for identification of foodborne pathogens.