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BACKGROUND: The use of antibiotics in food animal production has been associated with antibioticresistant infections in humans. In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned fluoroquinolone use in U.S. poultry production in order to reduce the prevalence of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter. Little is known about the potential efficacy of this policy. OBJECTIVES: Our primary objective was to follow temporal changes in the prevalence of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter among poultry products from two conventional producers who announced their cessation of fluoroquinolone use in 2002 (3 years before the FDA's ban). Our secondary objective was to compare, over time, the prevalence of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter in conventional poultry products to those from producers who claim to use no antibiotics. METHODS: We collected poultry samples from two conventional producers and three antibiotic-free producers over the course of 20 weeks in 2004 (n = 198) and 15 weeks in 2006 (n = 210). We compared the rates of fluoroquinolone resistance among Campylobacter isolates from the different producers. RESULTS: We found no significant change in the proportion of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter isolates from the two conventional producers over the study period. In addition, Campylobacter strains from the two conventional producers were significantly more likely to be fluoroquinolone resistant than those from the antibiotic-free producers. CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study indicate that fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter may be persistent contaminants of poultry products even after on-farm fluoroquinolone use has ceased. The FDA's ban on fluoroquinolones in poultry production may be insufficient to reduce resistant Campylobacter in poultry products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the persistence of the antibiotic resistant bacteria, Camphylobacter, on poultry in Baltimore, Maryland. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found bacteria resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics on chicken years after use of the antibiotic had reportedly ceased. They found the bacteria from conventional chicken were more likely to be antibiotic-resistant than those from antibiotic-free products. Although use of these antibiotics on poultry farms was banned by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in 2005, the researchers argue that resistant bacteria can linger in poultry farms' water distribution and ventilation systems and in reused litter.