AUTHOR=Bai Jie , Chen Zhengquan , Luo Kaijian , Zeng Fanliang , Qu Xiaoyun , Zhang Hongxia , Chen Kaifeng , Lin Qijie , He Haishan , Liao Ming , Zhang Jianmin 

TITLE=Highly Prevalent Multidrug-Resistant Campylobacter spp. Isolated From a Yellow-Feathered Broiler Slaughterhouse in South China

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.682741

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2021.682741

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence, antimicrobial resistance, virulence genes, and genetic diversity of <italic>Campylobacter</italic> spp. along the yellow-feathered broiler slaughtering line in Southern China from December 2018 to June 2019. A total of 157 <italic>Campylobacter</italic> spp. isolates were identified from 1,102 samples (including 53.6% (75/140) of live chicken anal swab samples, 27.5% (44/160) of defeathering samples, 18.1% (29/160) of evisceration samples, 2.1% (3/140) of washing samples, 1.4% (2/140) of chilling samples, and 1.1% (4/362) of environmental samples). The prevalence of <italic>Campylobacter</italic> spp. was 14.2%, including 43.9% <italic>Campylobacter jejuni</italic>, 53.5% <italic>Campylobacter coli</italic>, and 2.5% other <italic>Campylobacter</italic> species. The highest antimicrobial resistance rate was found to be against sulfamethoxazole (138/157, 87.9%), and 90.4% (142/157) of the isolates were multidrug resistant (MDR). Examination of resistance-related genes revealed the double base mutated Thr-86-Ile, which informed ACA-TTA, with an Arg-79-Lys substitution in <italic>gyrA</italic>. Eleven virulence-associated genes (<italic>cadF</italic>, <italic>cdtA</italic>, <italic>cdtB</italic>, <italic>ciaB</italic>, <italic>flaA</italic>, <italic>imaA</italic>, <italic>dnaJ</italic>, <italic>plaA</italic>, <italic>virB11</italic>, <italic>racR</italic>, and <italic>cdtC</italic>) were also detected by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, and <italic>cadF</italic> (81.5%) was the most prevalent. Based on an analysis of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) results, we found that <italic>Campylobacter</italic> spp. could be cross-contaminated throughout the entire slaughtering line. These results show that it is imperative to study the <italic>Campylobacter</italic> spp. from the yellow-feathered broiler along the slaughtering line in China to develop preventative and treatment measures for the poultry industry, as well as food safety and public health.</p>