Antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter upsaliensis isolated from dog feces

Increasing antimicrobial resistance in both human and veterinary medicine is recognized as a major public health problem. Since 2005, campylobacteriosis has been the most commonly reported zoonotic disease in humans (European Union). Dogs have been identified as carriers of Campylobacter species, and their role as a source of infection for humans has been established. Dog feces were plated on mCCDA agar. Campylobacter species were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight (MALDI TOF). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by disk diffusion method according to EUCAST recommendations using ciprofloxacin (5 μg), erythromycin (15 μg), tetracycline (10 μg) and azithromycin (15 μg). Forty-two isolates of Campylobacter spp. were included in the study, 25 of Campylobacter jejuni and 17 of Campylobacter upsaliensis. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was found in 64.3% of the isolates, to tetracycline in 14.3% of the isolates, to erythromycin in 4.8% of the isolates and to azythromycin in 2.4% of the isolates. In this study, Campylobacter spp. were found to be resistant to one (47.6%) or two (14.3%) classes of antimicrobial agents. The highest resistance values were observed for ciprofloxacin and the lowest for macrolides. The ciprofloxacin resistance observed in this study is among the highest resistance levels reported in human and veterinary isolates. As dogs live in very close contact with humans, this finding may pose a major public health challenge.