Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulence Genes of Campylobacter spp. Isolated from Chicken and Swine Farms in Jiangsu Province

The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial resistance, virulence genes of Campylobacter spp. isolated from chicken and swine farms in Jiangsu Province. Campylobacter spp. were isolated and identified from two hundred and fifty fecal samples collected from twenty-five animal farms in Jiangsu Province. Campylobacter strains were tested for the antimicrobial susceptibility against to 9 kinds of antimicrobial agents by using an agar dilution method. Eight virulence genes (cdtB, cadF, htrB, clpP, csrA, wlaN, cstⅡ, and cgtB) were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Ninety-three Campylobacter strains were isolated and identified from 250 samples, including 45 C. jejuni strains and 48 C. coli strains. The highest percentage of antimicrobial resistance was found for nalidixic acid (80.0%), tetracycline (71.1%) and ciprofloxacin (66.7%) in C. jejuni isolates. The C. coli isolates were most frequently resistant to erythromycin (87.5%), nalidixic acid (79.2%) and azithromycin (72.9%). Moreover, the multi-drug resistance (resistance to three or more antimicrobial classes) was common among Campylobacter isolates with a rate of 67.7%. On the other hand, the 93 Campylobacter strains showed a wide variation for the presence of the 8 virulence genes, cdtB and cadF were positive for all isolates，while htrB, clpP, csrA, wlaN, cstⅡ and cgtB was 97.8%, 76.3%, 18.3%, 5.4%, 2.2%, and 0%, respectively. The results indicated that the multiple drug resistance of Campylobacter strains from animal origin was relatively serious. In addition, the virulence-associated genes were detected widely among Campylobacter strains.