Development of a novel and specialized cultivation method for isolating Helicobacter pullorum from chicken meat

Background: It has become established that Helicobacter pullorum could be isolated from raw chicken meat. Aims: This study was aimed to develop a novel culture method (protocol B) to isolate H. pullorum from chicken meat by adding some modifications to the traditional culture method (protocol A), and as a consequence to compare their sensitivity, specificity, and the accuracy of these methods with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. Methods: 400 chicken meat samples were collected from various retail markets and supermarkets. Each sample was processed by protocol A, protocol B, and PCR test. Results: Out of 400 samples, 77 (19.25%), and 163 (40.75%) were culture-positive by protocol A and protocol B, respectively. Using PCR test as a gold standard, 196 (49%) samples were identified as H. pullorum. The specificity for both protocols was determined 100%, while the sensitivity of protocol B and protocol A was assessed 83% and 39%, respectively. Also, the higher and lower accuracy belonged to protocol B (92%) and protocol A (70%), respectively. Conclusion: The methodology designed herein can provide a suitable, approximately sensitive, specific, and accurate method to cultivate H. pullorum from chicken meat.