title: Prevalence, antibiogram, and cdt genes of toxigenic Campylobacter jejuni in salad style vegetables (ulam) at farms and retail outlets in Terengganu.
abstract: The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance among Campylobacter jejuni in ulam at farms and retail outlets located in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. A total of 526 samples (ulam, soil, and fertilizer) were investigated for the presence of C. jejuni and the gene for cytolethal distending toxin (cdt) by using a multiplex PCR method. Antibiotic susceptibility to 10 types of antibiotics was determined using the disk diffusion method for 33 C. jejuni isolates. The average prevalence of contaminated samples from farms, wet markets, and supermarkets was 35.29, 52.66, and 69.88%, respectively. The cdt gene was not detected in 24 of the 33 C. jejuni isolates, but 9 isolates harbored cdtC. Antibiotic resistance in C. jejuni isolates was highest to penicillin G (96.97% of isolates) followed by vancomycin (87.88%), ampicillin (75.76%), erythromycin (60.61%), tetracycline (9.09%), amikacin (6.06%), and norfloxacin (3.03%); none of the isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin, and gentamicin. In this study, C. jejuni was present in ulam, and some isolates were highly resistant to some antibiotics but not to quinolones. Thus, appropriate attention and measures are required to prevent C. jejuni contamination on farms and at retail outlets.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 22200 Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohd Ikhsan
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Khalid
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 22200 Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia. jyhtang@unisza.edu.my.
authors.forename: John Yew Huat
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 22200 Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nabila Huda
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Baharuddin
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 22200 Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nasiha Shakina
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Food Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, 22200 Besut, Terengganu, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nurul Faizzah
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Rahimi
authors.affiliation: Food Safety Research Centre, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Son
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Radu
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003132:Commerce; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D008296:Malaysia; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; C067044:cytolethal distending toxin