Antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli from poultry in Italy

This study was aimed at assessing the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of Campylobacter isolates from broilers and turkeys reared in industrial farms in Northern Italy, given the public health concern represented by resistant campylobacters in food-producing animals and the paucity of data about this topic in our country. Thirty-six Campylobacter jejuni and 24 Campylobacter coli isolated from broilers and 68 C. jejuni and 32 C. coli from turkeys were tested by disk diffusion for their susceptibility to apramycin, gentamicin, streptomycin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, ceftiofur, cefuroxime, ampicillin, amoxicillin+clavulanic acid, nalidixic acid, flumequine, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, tilmicosin, tylosin, tiamulin, clindamycin, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole+trimethoprim, chloramphenicol. Depending on the drug, breakpoints provided by Comité de l'antibiogramme de la Société Française de Microbiologie, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, and the manufacturer were followed. All broiler strains and 92% turkey strains were multidrug resistant. Very high resistance rates were detected for quinolones, tetracycline, and sulfamethoxazole+trimethoprim, ranging from 65% to 100% in broilers and from 74% to 96% in turkeys. Prevalence of resistance was observed also against ampicillin (97% in broilers, 88% in turkeys) and at least three cephalosporins (93-100% in broilers, 100% in turkeys). Conversely, no isolates showed resistance to chloramphenicol and tiamulin. Susceptibility prevailed for amoxicillin+clavulanic acid and aminoglycosides in both poultry species, and for macrolides and clindamycin among turkey strains and among C. jejuni from broilers, whereas most C. coli strains from broilers (87.5%) were resistant. Other differences between C. jejuni and C. coli were observed markedly in broiler isolates, with the overall predominance of resistance in C. coli compared to C. jejuni. This study provides updates and novel data on the AMR of broiler and turkey campylobacters in Italy, revealing the occurrence of high resistance to several antimicrobials, especially key drugs for the treatment of human campylobacteriosis, representing a potential risk for public health.