Molecular Characterization and Antibiotic Resistant Profiles of Campylobacter Species Isolated From Poultry and Diarrheal Patients in Southeastern China 2017–2019

Abstract

Campylobacter is a zoonotic pathogen that causes foodborne diarrheal illness globally. To better understand health risks in Southeastern China, Campylobacter spp. were surveyed in humans and representative poultry products over 3 years. One hundred and ninety-five representative isolates (n = 148, Campylobacter jejuni; n = 45, Campylobacter coli; n = 2 Campylobacter hyointestinalis) were examined for genetic relatedness and antimicrobial susceptibility. Nearly all Campylobacter isolates (99.0%, 193/195) were resistant to at least one class of antimicrobials, and 45.6% (89/195) of the isolates exhibited multidrug resistance. Genotypic analysis revealed high diversity among tested strains. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) displayed 120 sequence types (STs) including 42 novel STs being added to the PubMLST international database. Sixty-two STs belonged to 16 previously characterized clonal complexes (CCs), of which CC-21, CC-45, CC-464, CC-574, CC-353, and CC-828 were most frequently identified. In addition, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) fingerprinting resulted in 66 PFGE SmaI patterns among the 125 isolates, with eight patterns shared between human and poultry sources. Subtyping data did not correlate with antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. Taken together, this large-scale surveillance study highlights high antimicrobial resistance and molecular features of Campylobacter isolates in Southeastern China.

Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles, Virulence Genes, and Genetic Diversity of Thermophilic Campylobacter Species Isolated From a Layer Poultry Farm in Korea

“…Campylobacter species exhibited high-level resistance to some antimicrobials (CIP, NAL, and TET), which concurs with findings previously reported in Korea ( Kim et al, 2010 ; Lee et al, 2017 ; Oh et al, 2017 ) and elsewhere ( Elhadidy et al, 2018 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). In Korea, the use of ciprofloxacin was banned in 2010 ( Ku et al, 2011 ), but mass medication of poultry with FQs, especially enrofloxacin, is still allowed ( Seo and Lee, 2020 ).…”

“…There was high resistance to TET, which concurs with previous reports in Korea ( Wei et al, 2014 ; Lee et al, 2017 ), China ( Zhang et al, 2020 ), and India ( Kabir et al, 2015 ). TET is often used in poultry and pig industries based on their low cost and easy administration to animals through drinking water ( Jonker and Picard, 2010 ).…”

“…The low resistance to ERY and GEN shown by the isolates of this study has also been reported in different countries like Korea, Vietnam, and China ( Carrique-Mas et al, 2014 ; Wei et al, 2014 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). Resistance to ERY has been low and stable in China ( Zhang et al, 2020 ), the United States, and across Europe ( Tang et al, 2017 ).…”

“…The low resistance to ERY and GEN shown by the isolates of this study has also been reported in different countries like Korea, Vietnam, and China ( Carrique-Mas et al, 2014 ; Wei et al, 2014 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). Resistance to ERY has been low and stable in China ( Zhang et al, 2020 ), the United States, and across Europe ( Tang et al, 2017 ). The limited resistance to ERY may be partly explained by a slower process of developing resistant strains when exposed to ERY and reduced survival of resistant strains ( Luangtongkum et al, 2009 , 2012 ).…”

“…Although resistance to quinolones and TET was not a particularity of certain STs, a strong correlation between CC-460, CC-607, CC-45, CC-48, CC-21, and resistance to both TET and quinolones in C. jejuni strains is not new (Cody et al, 2012;Shin et al, 2013;Guyard-Nicodème et al, 2015;Zhang et al, 2020). In Korea, C. jejuni strains of human origin with ST-607, ST-137, ST-45, ST-21, and ST-48 were found to be MDR (Shin et al, 2013).…”