Prevalence of Arcobacter: from farm to retail – A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Arcobacter is a group of bacteria widely distributed in several habitats and throughout the food chain. Considering the pathogenic potential of some species within this group, it is important to understand their distribution along the food chain, as well as the possible routes of transmission. Aiming this, a systematic review and meta-analysis-based method was used to investigate the prevalence of Arcobacter species throughout the food chain, from farm to fork, using the worldwide available data. Database search was performed using related keywords and considering studies up to March 2020. The pooled prevalence of Arcobacter in food chain was 30% (0.300; 95% CI: 0.262-0.342), ranging from 0.5 to 99.4%. The highest prevalence of Arcobacter was observed in Belgium (0.575; 95% CI:0.427-0.710) and the lower in Ireland (0.031; 95% CI:0.022-0.042). Oceania continent (0.409; 95% CI:0.173-0.697) and the countries with high income level (0.342; 95% CI:0.293-0.394) presented the highest prevalence when considering the analysis of subgroups. Arcobacter spp. presented the highest prevalence at the processing stage (0.335; 95% CI:0.270-0.406), when compared with primary and retail stage. Also, data points to the relevance of environmental sources in food contamination. Arcobacter seems to be more frequently found in animal origin products, with the highest prevalence observed for poultry-associated products (0.404; 95% CI: 0.338-0.473), being Arcobacter butzleri the most frequently found species. The results of this meta-analysis highlight the high prevalence and distribution of Arcobacter along the food chain, suggesting a high risk to human health, and the relevance of taking preventive actions in order to reduce the burden of this pathogen in food sector.