Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in slaughtered broiler chickens in Paraguay

Abstract

Campylobacteriosis is one of the main zoonotic diseases transmitted by food, especially chicken meat and derivatives which represent an important transmission source for humans. This research aimed to verify prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in broiler chickens Cobb 500TM obtained from a slaughterhouse in Paraguay. 300 cloacal swabs samples were randomly collected, then subjected to microbiological analysis and subsequent PCR bacterial confirmation. Antimicrobial susceptibility to ciprofloxacin and erythromycin was determined by the E-test®. Campylobacter spp. prevalence was 63.6%, 97.3% corresponding to C. jejuni and 2.6% to C. coli. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was 89.8% for C. jejuni and 100% for C. coli. Resistance to erythromycin was found only in one strain of C. jejuni (0.5%). High resistance to ciprofloxacin and high prevalence of C. jejuni, were confirmed. This research describes public health risk of consumption of chicken meat contaminated with antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter species. The results indicate the need to implement health control measures regarding the antibiotic treatments in poultry production. This research represents the first scientific report that reveals antimicrobial prevalence and resistance of C. jejuni and C. coli in commercial broiler chickens in Paraguay.