Identification and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter species isolated from poultry meat in Khorasan province,Iran

Campylobacter is the main bacterial cause of acute gastroenteritis in humans. Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are the most frequent Campylobacter species isolated from patients with diarrhea. Undercooked poultry meat is one of the main sources of human infection. Contamination of poultry carcasses by Campylobacter during processing occurs directly via intestinal contents or indirectly from bird to bird, via equipment and water. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Campylobacter spp. isolated from raw poultry meat in Mashhad, Iran. From May 2012 to July 2012, 300 poultry meat samples including chicken (150), turkey (70), partridge (50), and quail (30) were randomly purchased from retail outlets. Using cultural method and a PCR assay 49.7% of poultry meat samples were contaminated with Campylobacter spp. Campylobacter spp. were significantly (P < 0.05) more prevalent in chicken meat (59.3%), followed by partridge (48%), quail (40%), and turkey (34.3%) meat. The most prevalent Campylobacter spp. isolated was C. jejuni (80.8%); the remaining isolates were C. coli (19.3%). Overall, 96.6% Campylobacter isolates were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agent. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was the most common finding (81.9%), followed by resistance to nalidixic acid (73.2%) and tetracycline (67.8%). In conclusion, the results of this study showed the importance of chicken, quail, partridge, and turkey meat as potential sources of Campylobacter spp. infection in people.     

Antimicrobial resistance in thermotolerant Campylobacter isolated from different stages of the poultry meat supply chain in Argentina

The objective of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial resistance in thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. isolated from different stages of the poultry meat supply chain in Argentina. Six poultry meat chains were studied from the reproductive farm to the chicken at the retail. Chickens sampled along each food chain were from the same batch. Samples collected were: a) cloacal samples from hens and chickens on the farm, b) chicken carcasses from the slaughterhouse and retail market. Samples obtained were examined for Campylobacter spp. Antimicrobial resistance was evaluated using the disk diffusion method. Almost all isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid (91.2%) and ciprofloxacin (88.2%). A large proportion of thermotolerant Campylobacter isolated from hens and broilers <1 wk showed resistance to erythromycin in comparison with the rest of the stages of the poultry meat supply chain (P = 0.031). Campylobacter isolated from broilers (both <1 wk and >5 wk) and carcasses at slaughterhouse and at retail showed a proportion of resistance to ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin higher than isolates from hens (P = 0.015 and P = 0.031, respectively). One strain was resistant to all the antibiotics analyzed, and 46.1% of the isolates were resistant to three or more drug classes. Almost 50% of the isolates were resistant to all quinolones tested (ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, and enrofloxacin), and 13.2% were resistant to all quinolones and erythromycin. Campylobacter strains isolated from carcasses at retail showed higher resistance to all quinolones than strains isolated from hens (P = 0.016). These results reflect an alarming situation with potential serious consequences to the public health.     

Trends in the occurrence and characteristics of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates from poultry meat in Northern Poland

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in poultry meat available in retail stores in the northern part of Poland during a five-year period (2009–2013). A total of 742 poultry meat samples were collected from butcher shops and supermarkets including the following types of samples: chicken breast filets (n = 133), turkey breast filets (n = 112), chicken wings (n = 135), chicken leg quarters (n = 128), chicken drumsticks (n = 115), and chicken giblets (n = 119).The results indicated that 41.6% of the samples were positive for Campylobacter spp., and Campylobacter jejuni was predominant in this study. The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. changed during the study period, decreasing from 60.2% in 2009 to 32% in 2013.The characterization of the isolates revealed a high prevalence of Campylobacter virulence genes. All Campylobacter spp. isolates from poultry meat contained the cadF gene, which is responsible for adherence. The flaA gene, which is involved in motility, was present in all C. jejuni and Campylobacter coli strains. The cdtB, which is associated with toxin production, was present in 93.3% of C. jejuni strains and 89.6% of C. coli strains. The iam gene, which is associated with the invasiveness of Campylobacter spp., was predominant in C. coli strains (95.6%) compared to C. jejuni strains (84.5%).Resistance to four antimicrobials was also examined. The prevalence of resistance among the obtained C. jejuni and C. coli isolates was as follows: ciprofloxacin (62.8% and 72.2%, respectively), tetracycline (42.3% and 42.6%, respectively), erythromycin (3% and 1.7%, respectively) and azithromycin (1%). Multidrug resistance was more frequent among C. jejuni isolates (29.8%) than among C. coli isolates (18.2%).In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated the importance of poultry meat as a source of Campylobacter spp., especially macrolide-resistant strains. The trend of decreasing Campylobacter spp. occurrence in retail poultry meat in this region of Poland requires further investigation, and monitoring.     

Antibiotic resistance in Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from food in Poland

This study presents the results of investigations on the susceptibility of Campylobacter spp. strains isolated from chicken meat and giblets to fluorochinolones (ciprofloxacin), macrolides (erythromycin), tetracyclines (tetracycline) and aminoglycosides (gentamicin) andV an analysis of the molecular mechanisms of resistance to the selected antibiotics.Between January 2008 and December 2009 a total of 218 samples of chicken meat and giblets from retail trade in Poland were examined. Campylobacter bacteria were found in 143 samples, that is in 65.6% of the total number embraced by the study. Campylobacter coli was the most ubiquitous - its presence was determined in 108 samples out of 143 (75.5%), whereas Campylobacter jejuni was found in 35 of the contaminated samples (24.5%).The results obtained point to the high percentage (97.9%) of Campylobacter isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin. 92 strains (64.3%) were resistant to tetracycline, 14 (9.1%) to erythromycin and only 9 (6.3%) to gentamicin. Moreover, ten out of the 143 resistant Campylobacter strains (7.0%) were found to be resistant to at least three unrelated antibiotics.     

Prevalence and pattern of antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter spp. in poultry meat in Southern Italy

Campylobacter spp. is one of the most common cause of sporadic human foodborne illness in industrialized countries, and concern has been raised by the emergence of strains showing antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence of Campylobacter spp. and pattern of antibiotic resistance in samples of poultry raw meat sold in retail outlets in Southern Italy.A total of 208 samples of chicken and turkey raw meat collected from randomly selected retail butchers' shops in Catanzaro (Italy) were processed for the presence of Campylobacter spp.Campylobacter spp. contaminated 43 samples of poultry product. The most frequent isolates were Campylobacter coli (34.9%) and Campylobacter jejuni (32.6%). The lowest resistance was found for gentamycin (27.9%) and cloramphenicol (32.6%). We also investigated prevalence of sensitivity to the most important antibiotics and we found that only 20.9% isolates were sensible to both ciprofloxacin and erythromycin.Our findings revealed a reduction in the overall contamination by Campylobacter spp. in raw meat. However, resistant and particularly multi-resistant strains were alarmingly spread, representing an increasing phenomenon that demands enforced interventions at multidisciplinary levels.     

Prevalence,antimicrobial resistance profiling and genetic diversity of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from broilers at slaughter in China

A total of 651 samples from broiler cecal samples, carcasses, carcass parts collected at the slaughterhouse level in Sichuan Province of China were examined for the occurrence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. After confirmed by species-specific multiplex PCR, the recovered isolates were examined for resistance to antimicrobials using an agar dilution method and investigated for the mutation of gyrA, tetO gene and V domain of 23S rRNA as well as the presence of class 1 integron and the associated gene cassettes. In addition, the genotype relatedness of the isolates was determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) profiling. The prevalence of Campylobacter was 56.1% in cecal samples, 31.0% in carcasses and 17.0% in carcass parts, respectively. Among them, C. jejuni accounted for 24.6% and C. coli occupied 20.0% of the samples. The strains of C. jejuni were most frequently resistant to ciprofloxacin (88.1%), followed by resistance to tetracycline (79.4%) and levofloxacin (78.1%). Most of the C. coli isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin (100%), tetracycline (98.5%), levofloxacin (98.5%), clindamycin (98.5%) and erythromycin (93.9%). Antimicrobial resistance profiling showed that 93.7% of campylobacters were multidrug resistant (MDR) strains. Moreover, class 1 integrons were detected in 98.6% of MDR campylobacters, among which 98.7% were positive for C. jejuni and 98.5% for C. coli. Three kinds of gene cassettes-associated amplicons were identified and the amplicons profile of 1000–750–500–250 bp was the predominant pattern linked to the aminoglycoside resistance gene of aadA2. The presence of mutation in gyrA, tetO and 23S rRNA between C. jejuni and C. coli varied from 89.7% to 97.3%, 96.6% to 94.1%, and 95.0% to 96.7%, respectively. Finally, the results of PFGE indicated that, 33 PFGE profiles were generated among 78 isolates of C. jejuni and the similarity level ranged from 42.1% to 99.1%. By contrast, 15 PFGE patterns were produced among 68 C. coli isolates sharing a similarity level of 54.0%–99.7%. Comparison of the PFGE and antimicrobial resistance profiles of the isolates reflected the high genetic diversity of Campylobacter tested. A poor correlation among the antimicrobial resistance patterns, resistance determinants and PFGE genotypes was observed in C. jejuni. Our study showed that there were several points of cross-contamination during broiler slaughter, and a high diversity of PFGE types in the Campylobacter isolates with high resistances to ciprofloxacin and tetracycline.     

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter species isolated from the avian eggs

Campylobacter is one of the most important food borne pathogens that cause bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. The most commonly isolated species in humans are Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) and Campylobacter coli. The emergence of antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter spp. has been a growing public health concern globally. Information about antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter at different levels of production is important for the development of control strategies for this pathogen. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. isolated from different eggs from different avian species in Iran. A total of 440 egg samples were collected from different avian and analyzed for the presence of Campylobacter spp. in eggshell and eggs content under sterile conditions using Campylobacter selective agar base and the species were identified by biochemical tests. The suspected colonies were subjected to PCR assay for final confirmation as Campylobacter spp., and identification of C. jejuni or Campylobacter coli. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method using Mueller Hinton agar. Campylobacters were detected in a total of 7 out of 100 (7%) eggshell of chicken samples and in 3 out of 60 (5%) eggshell of duck samples. In addition, Campylobacter spp. were also detected in 3.3%, 2.5%, 4.2%, 5% and 3.8 of the eggshell of goose, ostrich, partridge, quail and turkey samples, respectively. The overall prevalence rate of Campylobacter species from different avian eggs was found to be 7.7% (34/440). Among different avian egg samples, Campylobacter jejuni was more frequently isolated 28 (n = 28, 6.3%) than C. coli 6 (n = 6, 1.3%). In addition, the prevalence of C. jejuni was highest in summer and lowest in autumn. In this study Campylobacter spp. showed significant difference in resistance pattern with tetracycline and ciprofloxacin but gentamicin resistance was not found in both C. coli and C. jejuni isolates. Therefore, gentamicin is safe and effective drugs for the treatment of human campylobacteriosis if avian egg is considered as the source of infection.     

Campylobacter species and their antimicrobial resistance in Latvian broiler chicken production

In the present study Campylobacter species and their antimicrobial resistance in Latvian broiler chicken production was determined. Furthermore, this is the first report on the antimicrobial resistance patterns for Campylobacter isolates from broiler chickens at slaughterhouse and retail level in Latvia. Two biggest Latvian broiler chicken meat producing company products were included in the study. Altogether, 74 randomly selected broiler chicken Campylobacter spp. isolates were analysed for species identification. Campylobacter isolates were obtained during a 12-month period within the Latvian Campylobacter prevalence study in 2010. Colony multiplex PCR was used for all isolates to identify Campylobacter species. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for 58 Campylobacter spp. isolates. Resistance to one or more antimicrobials was detected in all 58 isolates (100%). A high proportion of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin (100%) and nalidixic acid (87.9%). Multidrug resistance, which was determined as resistance to three or more unrelated antimicrobials, was detected in 39 isolates (67.2%). Moreover, all multiresistant isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid. Analyses of Campylobacter isolates from two Latvian broiler chicken meat producing companies resulted with significant differences in Campylobacter species; from the company A mainly Campylobacter coli were found, while in the company B Campylobacter jejuni.     

Efficacy of pulsed electric fields for the inactivation of indicator microorganisms and foodborne pathogens in liquids and raw chicken

This study investigated the ability of pulsed electric fields (PEF) to inactivate a range of microorganisms in liquid media and on raw chicken meat. The susceptibilities of ten Campylobacter isolates (seven Campylobacter jejuni isolates and three Campylobacter coli isolates), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Salmonella Enteritidis (ATCC 13076) to PEF in liquid media were investigated. All Campylobacter isolates tested in liquid were susceptible to PEF treatment (65 kV/cm, 5 μs, 500 Hz) with reductions of between 4.33 and 7.22 log₁₀ CFU/mL observed for the longest treatment (30 s). Significant differences in susceptibility were observed between Campylobacter isolates subjected to equivalent PEF treatments ranging from 2.41 to 5.19 log₁₀ CFU/mL. Campylobacter isolates processed in liquid media were found to be more sensitive to PEF than E. coli and S. Enteritidis (P < 0.05). The application of PEF (3.75 and 15 kV/cm, 10 μs, 5 Hz) to inoculated samples of raw chicken did not result in any significant reductions in total viable counts, Enterobacteriaceae, C. jejuni, E. coli or S. Enteritidis. Therefore, under the conditions used in this study, PEF technology may not be suitable as a food safety intervention measure for the control of microbial contaminants on broilers during processing although it may have potential to reduce contamination of process water (e.g. scald or spin chill water).     

Biofilm formation of Campylobacter strains isolated from raw chickens and its reduction with DNase I treatment

Campylobacter is a well-known bacterial agent that causes foodborne gastroenteritis. Its biofilm-forming ability is known to be important for its survival in harsh conditions. Poultry is a main reservoir of Campylobacter. In this study, we evaluated the biofilm-forming ability, motility, and antibiotic susceptibility of Campylobacter strains isolated from commercially purchased chickens of various sources in South Korea. From 37 (30%) out of 124 chickens, a total of 78 Campylobacter isolates were obtained, and the ability of these strains to form biofilms was studied on polystyrene surfaces. We identified seven biofilm-forming strains of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, respectively, out of 60 C. jejuni and 18 C. coli strains. Our study demonstrated that motility is inconsistent with biofilm-forming ability, suggesting that motility is not a single factor affecting biofilm formation of Campylobacter. Moreover, there was no clear relationship between antibiotic resistance and biofilm-forming ability. DNase I treatment significantly inhibited the biofilm formation or degraded the mature biofilms of 3 C. coli and 1 C. jejuni biofilm-forming strains (p < 0.05). It suggests that extracellular DNA plays a significant role in the biofilm formation of these strains. Collectively, our study demonstrated that biofilm-forming ability is not strongly correlated with motility and antibiotic resistance in Campylobacter and that extracellular DNA is required for biofilm formation of the isolated Campylobacter strains. It also suggests that DNase I is a potential method for the control of Campylobacter biofilms.     

Prevalence of Campylobacter in chicken and chicken by-products retailed in Sapporo area,Hokkaido, Japan

The present work was carried out to study the prevalence of Campylobacter in fresh chicken meat and chicken by-products on retail level in Sapporo, Japan. Out of the 170 samples of chicken meat (breasts and thighs) and chicken by products (wings, livers, gizzards and hearts), 110 (64.7%) were contaminated with Campylobacter. Among the different products, chicken wings showed the highest contamination incidence (77.1%) followed by chicken thighs (70%), while chicken gizzards and hearts showed the lowest contamination incidence (45% and 40%, respectively). Of the 341 Campylobacter isolates, 278 (81.5%) were identified as Campylobacter jejuni and 63 (18.5%) isolates were identified as C. coli. All of the 341 Campylobacter strains identified by the conventional culture methods were further confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which indicated that almost all (99.4%) of the tested strains were also positive by PCR. Screening of 195 selected Campylobacter isolates for determining their antimicrobial resistance indicated that most of the tested strains (73.3%) were resistant to three or more of antimicrobials examined. The study concluded that high proportion of chicken meat and chicken by-products marketed in Sapporo area are contaminated by Campylobacter, most of which are antimicrobial-resistant strains, with a possible risk from such microorganism especially from consumption of undercooked or post-cooking contaminated chicken products.     

Quantitative surveys of Salmonella and Campylobacter on retail raw chicken in Yangzhou,China

To assess the risks to consumers from Salmonella and Campylobacter in whole raw chickens sold in Yangzhou City, 12-month quantitative surveys were performed in succession. In this study, 480 samples were collected from supermarkets and wet markets from 2011 to 2013. The examination method of Salmonella was optimized from the most probable number (MPN), and the level of Campylobacter contamination was tested using the direct plating method. These results showed that the positive rates of Salmonella and Campylobacter were 33.8% and 51.3%, respectively, and the corresponding mean values of enumeration were 0.524 MPN/g and 1473.49 colony-forming units/g. For prevalence and loads of Salmonella, there was no significant difference between supermarkets and wet markets. However, for Campylobacter, the contamination level of wet markets was greater compared to supermarkets. Seasonality was observed in both qualitative and quantitative studies for both pathogens, with summer being the high-incidence season. Diversity among Salmonella isolates was high in terms of serovar, and the dominant serotypes were Salmonella Typhimurium (34.6%) and Salmonella Enteritidis (16.7%). Diversity of Campylobacter isolates demonstrated that Campylobacter jejuni (45.5%) and Campylobacter coli (30.9%) were the most common species, except for the mixed contamination. Survey results indicated that there was a need for more interventions to minimize the exposure of consumers to Salmonella and Campylobacter.     

Frequency of contamination and antimicrobial resistance of thermotolerant Campylobacter isolated from some broiler farms and slaughterhouses in the region of Algiers

Campylobacteriosis in humans is caused by thermotolerant Campylobacter spp, following consumption of contaminated poultry, most commonly broiler.The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of contamination by thermotolerant Campylobacter and to characterize antimicrobial resistance of the strains isolated from broilers in some farms and slaughterhouses in the region of Algiers.One hundred droppings samples, 100 contents of ceaca and 100 neck skins were taken from six poultry farms and five slaughterhouses, than analyzed according to NF. ISO 10272-1/1995 norm and the OIE recommendations. Susceptibility to antibiotics was determined according to the guidelines of the CA-SFM/2010 by disc diffusion method.Thermotolerant Campylobacter strains were isolated from 85%, 98%, and 80% of droppings, caecal content and neck skin, respectively. All the strains (100%) were resistant to nalidixic acid and sensitive to gentamicin and to chloramphenicol. 83.7% of them were resistant to tetracycline and to ciprofloxacin, 75.3% to ampicillin, 46.8% to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and 21.7% were resistant to erythromycin. All the isolates showed a multi-drug resistance. Nineteen different profiles were identified with “AM, AMC, NA, CIP, TE” combination as the most common profile identified for 27% (n = 74) of isolated strains. In addition, 15% of the strains were resistant to both erythromycin and ciprofloxacin, which are systematically used in treatment of human Campylobacter infections.Our results showed a high prevalence of thermotolerant Campylobacter with multidrug resistance profiles in poultry farms and slaughterhouses of Algiers. These results stress that the risk of human contamination throughout the food chain is very high, which may generate: i) a danger of food poisoning by ingestion of chicken meat and chicken meat products and, ii) a cross-resistance to antibiotics between human and avian strains.     

Prevalence and quantification of Campylobacter contamination on raw chicken carcasses for retail sale in China

The quantitative contamination load of Campylobacter on raw chicken carcasses at retail outlets in seven provinces and cities of China was determined. A total of 1587 carcasses over 12 consecutive months were sampled. The overall Campylobacter contamination rate was 45.1% and 19.8% of contaminated carcasses was higher in the load than 3.0 log₁₀CFU/g. The median load was 2.1 log₁₀CFU/g with 1.4 log₁₀CFU/g as the 25th percentile and 2.9 log₁₀CFU/g as the 75th percentile, respectively. Using logistic regression, it observed the significant provincial and monthly variations in prevalence, freshly slaughtered chicken carcasses (63.1%) were found to be 2.3 times higher compared to chilled carcasses (32.9%), while no statistical significance was observed in prevalence among chicken carcasses that had various packaging solution (P = 0.370) nor from different market types (P = 0.680) suggesting that possible cross-contamination had occurred during processing and transportation. The present study found that 52.1%, 59.9%, 2.9%, 8.8% and 8.3% of carcasses were contaminated with C. jejuni, C. coli, C. lari, C. fetus, and C. upsaliensis, respectively. A higher proportion of C. coli (45.4%) than C. jejuni (39.5%) were cultured from the contaminated carcasses and this finding was suggestive of a high degree of cross-contamination occurred not just among poultry products, but also with pork products before/at retail points in China. This study provided quantitative data suitable for a risk assessment model designed to evaluate useful intervention methods to facilitate a reduction in the risk of campylobacteriosis arising from the consumption of contaminated domestically produced chicken meat in China.     

Assessment of the Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli in broiler chicken ceca by conventional culture and loop-mediated isothermal amplification method

In a two-year survey of the 24 Japanese broiler chicken flocks at 9 farms from 2013 to 2014, C. jejuni/C. coli prevalence was assessed in a total of 131 slaughtered broiler chicken cecal samples by conventional culture methods and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. While 93 samples were C. jejuni/C. coli-negative, 38 (29.0%) showed Campylobacter loads of between 6.4 and 9.0 log CFU/g of ceca in conventional culture methods. The performance of LAMP assay was 100% accurate in terms of diagnostic sensitivity (38/38), specificity (93/93). Furthermore, LAMP assay enabled direct screening of C. jejuni and C. coli in cecal samples from broiler chicken chickens as rapid and cost-effective detection within 90 min and less than 1 US dollar, which can help monitor release of Campylobacter-contaminated chicken into the food chain, thereby reducing the incidence and public health risk of campylobacteriosis. Seasonal changes in C. jejuni and C. coli prevalence in broiler chicken ceca were significantly correlated with the frequency of food poisoning incidents caused by these bacteria in Japan.     

PCR detection of Campylobacter sp. from turkey carcasses during processing plant in Iran

Turkey carcasses were sampled in one commercial poultry processing plant of Isfahan (Iran) to evaluate the contamination of carcasses to Campylobacter spp. along the processing plant by PCR method. A total of 348 samples were collected during six plants visit from May to December 2007. Campylobacter spp. were isolated from 62.1% (216 out of 348) of the samples. Out of 216 Campylobacter isolates, 175 (81.0%) were identified as Campylobacter jejuni and 41 (19.0%) as Campylobacter coli. The occurrences of Campylobacter spp. contamination after defeathering, evisceration and chilling were 75.9%, 77.6% and 32.8% respectively. The results indicate that the fecal recontamination of the avian skin occurred during defeathering and evisceration. However chilling process decreases Campylobacter spp. contamination of the turkey skin significantly.     

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter species isolates in ducks and geese

A total of 471 duck and goose intestinal content samples were collected from wet markets and were determined for the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. For the detected isolates, resistance to selected antimicrobial agents was identified. Campylobacter spp. was detected in 114/291 duck samples (39.2%) and 47/180 goose samples (26.1%). Among the 161 isolated Campylobacter spp., 85.7% and 14.3% were Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli, respectively. Resistance to ciprofloxacin (82.6%), tetracycline (77%) and nalidixic acid (75.2%) was particularly high in the tested Campylobacter isolates. However, all isolates were susceptible to gentamicin, neomycin, streptomycin, neomycin and ampicillin. The presence of Campylobacter spp., as well as the detection of multidrug-resistant isolates in this study, indicates that consuming of duck and goose meat might be a potential campylobacteriosis risk in this region.     

Low contamination of Campylobacter spp. on chicken carcasses in Minas Gerais state,Brazil: Molecular characterization and antimicrobial resistance

Here, we evaluated Campylobacter contamination on chicken carcasses and phenotypic and genotypic profiles of antimicrobial resistance of the isolated strains. A total of 95 of samples were collected from 19 slaughterhouses from Minas Gerais - Brazil, and analyzed by MPN-PCR method. Campylobacter was found in 16.8% of samples with microbial load ranging from 60 to 184 MPN/carcass. All isolates were resistant to at least 5 (31.2%) of the antimicrobials screened using the disk diffusion method. Thr-86-Ile gyrA mutation, bla_OxA-61 and tet(O) genes were found in 95%, 100% and 40% resistant isolates to ciprofloxacin, ampicillin and tetracycline, respectively. Almost all isolates (90%) showed the three genes required to synthesize the CmeABC efflux system. The use of efflux pump inhibitor (PAβN) resulted in a significant reduction in the MICs of antimicrobials (2–128 fold), indicating the importance of efflux systems in conferring antimicrobial resistance. Campylobacter were detected at low concentrations in Brazilian chicken carcasses. However, high-levels of antimicrobial resistance were observed and associated with several mechanisms. This study provides a baseline survey on contamination of Campylobacter in Brazilian chicken carcasses and its antimicrobial resistance, giving support for actions directed at reducing this pathogen in the food chain.     

Antimicrobial resistance patterns of Campylobacter spp. isolated from raw chicken,turkey, quail,partridge, and ostrich meat in Iran

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance pattern of Campylobacter spp. isolated from retail raw poultry meats in Iran. From July 2009 to March 2010, a total of 494 raw meat samples from chicken (n = 200), turkey (n = 170), quail (n = 86), partridge (n = 17), and ostrich (n = 21) were purchased from randomly selected retail outlets in Shahrekord, Iran. Using cultural method, 187 meat samples (37.9%) were contaminated with Campylobacter. The highest prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was found in chicken meat (47.0%) followed by quail (43.0%), partridge (35.3%), turkey (28.8%), and ostrich (4.8%) meat. The most prevalent Campylobacter species was Campylobacter jejuni (92.0%). The PCR assay could identify 38 Campylobacter-contaminated samples that were negative using the cultural method. Antimicrobial susceptibility test results showed that 98.4% of isolates were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents. Resistance to tetracycline was the most common findings (70.6%), followed by resistance to nalidixic acid (54.0%), and ciprofloxacin (49.7%). Significantly higher prevalence rates of Campylobacter spp. (P < 0.05) were found in meat samples taken in summer (51.1%). To our knowledge, the present study is the first report of the isolation of Campylobacter spp. from raw partridge meat in Iran.     

Prevalence of thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. in broilers at retail in the Czech Republic and their antibiotic resistance

Infections caused by thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. are among the most frequent bacterial diseases from food in Europe. An important source of infection is poultry. The aim was to perform the first nationwide study on the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. at retail in the Czech Republic. Samples of chilled and frozen broiler chickens were obtained from supermarkets localized in the eight largest cities in the Czech Republic. From February to November 2009, a total of 120 samples of chilled and 120 samples of frozen poultry were collected and assessed. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed according to the ISO 10272-1:2006 and ISO 10272-2:2006 methods. The microdilution method was used to test the resistance of Campylobacter spp. isolates to selected antibiotics. High prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was detected in chilled poultry (75%). The prevalence was significantly lower (37%) in frozen poultry. The most prevalent species was Campylobacter jejuni detected in 70% of positive findings, followed by Campylobacter coli (18%). In 12% of cases, the samples were contaminated by both C. jejuni and C. coli. The species Campylobacter lari and Campylobacter upsaliensis were not detected. The highest resistance rates were to quinolone antibiotics and ampicillin.