Antibiotic resistance in Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from food in Poland

This study presents the results of investigations on the susceptibility of Campylobacter spp. strains isolated from chicken meat and giblets to fluorochinolones (ciprofloxacin), macrolides (erythromycin), tetracyclines (tetracycline) and aminoglycosides (gentamicin) andV an analysis of the molecular mechanisms of resistance to the selected antibiotics. Between January 2008 and December 2009 a total of 218 samples of chicken meat and giblets from retail trade in Poland were examined. Campylobacter bacteria were found in 143 samples, that is in 65.6% of the total number embraced by the study. Campylobacter coli was the most ubiquitous – its presence was determined in 108 samples out of 143 (75.5%), whereas Campylobacter jejuni was found in 35 of the contaminated samples (24.5%). The results obtained point to the high percentage (97.9%) of Campylobacter isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin. 92 strains (64.3%) were resistant to tetracycline, 14 (9.1%) to erythromycin and only 9 (6.3%) to gentamicin. Moreover, ten out of the 143 resistant Campylobacter strains (7.0%) were found to be resistant to at least three unrelated antibiotics.