Thermo Scientific Limited, marketing partner for the DuPont Qualicon BAX® System in Europe, Australia and Canada, has launched the new BAX® Real Time PCR assay for Campylobacter.

Most current screening procedures for Campylobacter are culture-based, take at least 3 days for a result and do not differentiate between species without additional investigational work. The new BAX Real Time Campylobacter assay allows:

• Differentiation between the pathogenic species C. jejuni, C. coli and C. lari
  
• Quantification of three Campylobacter species
  
• Same day results for highly contaminated samples (direct protocol)
  
• Next day/two day results for samples requiring enrichment.
  

Campylobacter infection is a worldwide public health concern and is the leading cause of enteric illness in many countries. Campylobacter species differ from other food pathogens in that they do not multiply within the food. However, as few as 500 cells are sufficient to cause infection. The organism is endemic in many poultry populations and whilst normally responsible for self-limiting enteritis, infection can lead to severe complications such as arthritis and Guillain-Barré syndrome an acute paralytic disease of the nervous system. Although C. jejuni is responsible for approximately 90% of these infections, C. coli and C. lari have also been implicated. The commercial cost of the disease associated with poultry alone has been estimated at between Euros 270M and Euros 550M annually.

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a method used for amplifying and detecting specific DNA in a sample.The BAX Real Time Campylobacter assay, the first in a series of new real-time assays from DuPont Qualicon, uses PCR and probe-based chemistry to detect, quantify and differentiate between these three species of Campylobacter in the same sample.

Target specific probes (linked with different fluorescent markers) are displaced and cleaved from their target DNA during the amplification process, resulting in an increase in fluorescence. This fluorescence is measured at the end of each amplification cycle in real time. By determining which fluorescent marker became detectable and when, the BAX System Real Time PCR assay allows for the quantification and differentiation of three Campylobacter species.

The BAX System is simple and easy to use. Lysis is straight-forward and requires no additional equipment. All reagents required for PCR are supplied in a single tablet conveniently packaged inside the PCR tubes provided in each kit. Tableted reagents minimise the amount of hands-on time required for processing whilst simultaneously simplifying and standardising the procedure. Results are interpreted automatically and are ready for reporting. If necessary, icons and graphs make further result interrogation simple and easy to visualise.

The BAX Real Time Campylobacter assay has been validated internally for use on poultry rinses and ready-to-eat poultry products. These studies have shown that the BAX System performs equal to or better than traditional cultural methods, but with a quicker time to result. Two protocols exist: highly contaminated samples can be processed directly and will give a quantified result in only 2 hours. Other samples (such as ready-to-eat chicken) require enrichment, with results available as soon as next day.

The BAX System Real Time PCR Assay for Campylobacter jejuni/coli/lari will be submitted to AOAC-RI for Performance Tested method approval.

For further information about the BAX Real Time Campylobacter assay, please contact Thermo Scientific using the contact details at the top of this page.