title: High-Level Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Campylobacter jejuni Isolates Circulating in Humans and Animals in Incheon, Republic of Korea.
abstract: Campylobacter jejuni is one of the major causative pathogens of outbreaks or sporadic cases of diarrhoeal diseases worldwide. In this study, we compared the phenotypic and genetic characteristics of C. jejuni isolates of human and food-producing animal origins in Korea and examined the genetic relatedness between these two groups of isolates. Regardless of isolation source, all C. jejuni isolates harboured four virulence genes, cadF, cdtB, ciaB and racR, whereas the wlaN and virB11 genes were more frequently observed in human isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that the majority of C. jejuni isolates displayed high-level resistance to fluoroquinolone (95.2%) or tetracycline (76.2%) antibiotics, and 12.4% of isolates exhibited multidrug resistance (more than three classes of antibiotics tested). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of all Campylobacter isolates revealed 51 different SmaI-PFGE patterns and six major clusters containing both human and animal isolates. These results indicate that genetically diverse strains of C. jejuni with antimicrobial drug-resistance and virulence properties have prevailed in Incheon. Nevertheless, some particular populations continue to circulate within the community, providing the evidence for an epidemiological link of C. jejuni infections between humans and food-producing animals. Therefore, the continued monitoring and surveillance of C. jejuni isolates of human and food-producing animal origins are required for public health and food safety.
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
authors.forename: J S
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5951-8013
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Incheon Institute of Public Health and Environment Research, Jung-gu, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: M Y
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
authors.forename: S-E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cha
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.affiliation: Incheon Institute of Public Health and Environment Research, Jung-gu, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: M-J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
authors.forename: Y-H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea.
authors.forename: C-K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Division of Enteric Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, Korea National Institute of Health, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, Korea. jun49@hanmail.net.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002939:Ciprofloxacin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D037521:Virulence Factors; D002939:Ciprofloxacin
keywords: 
  Campylobacter jejuni
  ; Fluoroquinolone; pulsenet; virulence-associated gene