Viable Campylobacter jejunion Eggshells and Its Potential to Cross-contaminate Egg White and Yolk When Using a Manual Separation Technique, Determined by Culture and Propidium Monoazide (PMA) qPCR

•A total of 22 specific pathogen-free eggs were contaminated with C. jejuni3.1 ± 0.6 log cfu/g.•Separating egg white from yolk using the eggshell results in cross-contamination.•68% egg white and 14% yolk samples were cross-contaminated with C. jejuni.•PMA-qPCR was developed to quantify only viable C. jejunicells on eggshells.•23% of egg packs from retail were positive for dead and 3% for viable C. jejuni.