High level of antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter jejuni isolated from broiler chickens in Estonia in 2005 and 2006.
The development of antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli is a matter of increasing concern. Because campylobacteriosis is transmitted to humans usually via food of animal origin, the presence of antimicrobial-resistant campylobacters in broiler chickens has important public health implications. The aim of our study was to analyze resistance patterns of C. jejuni isolated from fecal samples collected at a large Estonian chicken farm, from cecal contents collected at slaughterhouses, and from meat samples collected at the retail establishments in 2005 and 2006. A total of 131 C. jejuni isolates were collected over a 13-month period and tested by the broth microdilution VetMIC method (National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden) to determine the MICs of various antimicrobials. Resistance to one or more antimicrobials was detected in 104 (79.4%) of the 131 isolates. High proportions of the isolates were resistant to enrofloxacin (73.3%) and nalidixic acid (75.6%). Multidrug resistance (resistance to three or more unrelated antimicrobials) was detected in 36 isolates (27.5%), all of which were resistant to enrofloxacin. Multidrug resistance was significantly associated with enrofloxacin resistance (P < 0.01), and the use of enrofloxacin may select for multiresistant strains.
Roasto
Mati
M
Department of Food Science and Hygiene, Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 58A, 51014 Tartu, Estonia. mati.roasto@emu.ee
Juhkam
Kadrin
K
Tamme
Terje
T
Hörman
Ari
A
Häkkinen
Liidia
L
Reinik
Mari
M
Karus
Avo
A
Hänninen
Marja-Liisa
ML
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D004957:Estonia; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015995:Prevalence