Genetic and Antibiotic Resistance Characteristics of Campylobacter jejuni Isolated from Diarrheal Patients, Poultry and Cattle in Shenzhen

Abstract

Objective: To investigate genetic and antibiotic resistance characteristics of Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) isolated from Shenzhen.

Methods: Multilocs sequence typing and agar dilution methods were used to define the genotype and antibiotic resistance of C. jejuni, respectively.

Results: In total, 126 C. jejuni strains were isolated. The prevalence of C. jejuni was 5.3% in diarrheal patients. The prevalence in poultry meat (36.5%) was higher than that in cattle meat (1.1%). However, the prevalence in poultry cloacal swabs (27.0%) was lower than that in cattle stool (57.3%). Sixty-two sequence types were obtained, among which 27 of the STs and 10 alleles were previously unreported. The most frequently observed clonal complexes were ST 21 (11.9%), ST-22 (10.3%), and ST-403 (7.1%). ST-21, ST-45, ST-354, ST-403, and ST-443 complexes overlapped between isolates from patients and cattle, whereas ST-45 and ST-574 complexes overlapped between isolates from patients and poultry. All C. jejuni were resistant to at least one antibiotic. The highest resistance rate was toward ciprofloxacin (89.7%), followed by tetracycline (74.6%), and nalidixic acid (69.0%).

Conclusion: This is the first report of the genotypes and antibiotic resistance of C. jejuni in Shenzhen. Overlapping clonal complexes were found between isolates from patients and cattle, and between patients and poultry.

Keywords: Antibiotic resistance; Campylobacter jejuni; Cattle; Diarrheal patients; Multilocus sequence typing; Poultry.