Prevalence of Campylobacter, Enterococcus and Staphylococcus aureus in slaughtered camels

Abstract

The contribution of camels and their products (meat and offal) as potential reservoirs of foodborne pathogens is far from elucidated. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of camels as potential sources of different foodborne agents and to determine their antibiotic resistance profile. For this reason, one hundred apparently healthy camels admitted to the Zagazig abattoir (Sharkia province, Egypt) for slaughtering were studied. Three different specimens were collected from each camel including fresh faeces, raw meat and liver which were processed to determine the presence of different foodborne pathogens using standard bacteriological techniques. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was also performed using the disc diffusion method. The occurrence of Campylobacter in the faeces, raw meat and liver were 20%, 33% and 15%, respectively, with the most prevalent C. coli (21%) followed by C. jejuni (0.7%) and C. lari (0.7%). Enterococcus spp. was isolated at 50%, 40%, and 43% from the examined faeces, meat and liver, respectively, with E. faecalis (24%) as the most widely identified bacterial spp. The respective specimens showed typical colonies of S. aureus with 15%, 45% and 25%, respectively, with an overall prevalence 28.3%. S. aureus was found to colonise workers hands (40%; 10/25), followed by E. faecalis (20%) while Campylobacter spp. was not detected in any of the tested workers’ hands. All recovered foodborne agents were found to be susceptible to enrofloxacin and resistant to rifampicin. The high loads of the pathogenic, as well as indicator bacteria in the raw camel meat, could indicate unhygienic conditions at the abattoir.

Prevalence, Virulence, and Antimicrobial Resistance of Campylobacter Species Isolated From Carcasses of Camels Slaughtered in Slaughterhouses of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, 2018-2019

“…Erythromycin: In their study on slaughtered camel samples in Egypt in 2019, Gwida et al 15 reported that C. coli exhibited 100% resistance to erythromycin in slaughtered camel samples; however, this resistance was 42.1% (P=0.03) in the present study. This indicated that these microorganisms were more resistant to this antibiotic in Egypt compared to Iran.…”

“…Nalidixic acid: Gwida et al showed that the resistance rate to this antibiotic in Campylobacter-positive samples was 75%, 15 while it was 10.52% in our study.…”

“…Amikacin: In the study by Gwida et al, 15 Campylobacter was 100% resistant to amikacin. In the present study, however, the resistance was 21.05%, which indicated the higher resistance of microorganisms to amikacin in Egypt compared to Iran.…”

“…In the present study, however, it was higher (84.21%) indicating a higher resistance of this microorganism to this antibiotic. Ampicillin: Gwida et al 15 reported that the resistance rate to this antibiotic in Campylobacter-positive camel samples was 90%. In our study, however, it was 63.15% suggesting a higher resistance of this microorganism to this antibiotic in Egypt compared to Iran.…”

“…14 The infection with Staphylococcus aureus and Campylobacter spp in camels is of the highest importance. 15,16 This study aimed to determine the prevalence, intensity, and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter isolated from carcasses of slaughtered camels in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran.…”