Abstract

Fertile eggs were collected from 47-week-old broiler breeder hens, brought to the laboratory, and separated in 3 segments: albumen, yolk and membranes. Membranes were peeled away from the shell and wiped with 10.0 mL of buffered peptone. Initial pH of albumen and yolk was determined, but no pH was determined for the membranes due to settling of the membrane to the bottom of the tube. Then each segment was stored under refrigeration (4°C), at room temperature (22°C) and in an incubator (37°C) for 2 and 7 d with pH’s taken at each time interval. Five replications (individual eggs) were taken. In addition, an inoculum of 3.4 × 102/mL of a gentamicin-resistant Campylobacter coli was added to each segment of the egg and incubated at 22°C for 3 h; then C. coli was enumerated. Three full replications were conducted. Initial pH was 8.7 and 6.1 for the albumen and yolk. After 48 h at 4°C, 22°C and 37°C, the pH of the albumen, yolk and membrane were 9.0, 9.2, 9.4; 6.3, 7.1, 7.2; 8.2, 8.6, 8.4, respectively. When 2.53 log10 of C. coli was inoculated into albumen, yolk and membrane, the numbers increased in all 3 and were log10 3.0, 2.94, and 2.82, respectively. This demonstrates that Campylobacter not only survives in the different portions of the fertile egg but multiplies slightly, thereby strengthening the argument that Campylobacter may pass from one generation to the next via the fertile egg.