Prevalence of Thermotolerant Campylobacter in Pheasants (Phasianus colchicus)

International audienceThis study was undertaken with the aim to evaluate the prevalence of thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. in living pheasants in Italy. To achieve this goal, a total of 240 living pheasants, equally shared between female and male birds, were examined. Thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. was isolated in 104 out of 204 (43.3%) living pheasants analysed. C. coli (100%) and C. jejuni (13.5%) were identified by PCR. Adult pheasants showed a significantly higher prevalence value (P < 0.05) than younger pheasants