Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major public health threat worldwide. The main objective of this study was to compare AMR in Campylobacter from broiler chickens raised on Canadian farms and their products in different geographical regions of Canada. To do this, antimicrobial susceptibility results from isolates of Campylobacter recovered from a national microbiological baseline study conducted in federally registered establishments and in the retail marketplace were analyzed. Among 1460 isolates tested, 774 (53%) were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, with a predominance of three profiles: tetracycline (39%), quinolone–tetracycline (6.6%), and quinolones only (3.5%). The results showed no significant difference in the frequency of resistant profiles (p ≥ 0.05) among the isolates originating from different points in the food processing chain at slaughterhouses and in retail establishments. This suggests that AMR observed in Campylobacter isolates from raw chicken at retail originated further upstream in the system. A difference in the frequency of certain resistance profiles was observed between the regions of Canada. For instance, in British Columbia, there was more resistance to quinolones, while in Ontario and Quebec, Campylobacter isolates were more resistant to tetracyclines, macrolides, ketolides, and lincosamides. Comparison of AMR data from this study with those from the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) did not show any significant difference and provides evidence that CIPARS produces nationally representative resistance results.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to public health worldwide (Allos, 2001; Moore et al, 2006; World Health Organization (WHO), 2015)
For the quinolones (CIP and nalidixic acid (NAL)), the proportion of resistant Campylobacter isolates was between 10% and 12% nationally depending on the sector
This study showed that the AMR profiles of the Campylobacter isolates were similar among sectors of the broiler chicken supply chain, suggesting that resistance in Campylobacter found in broiler chicken meat sold at retail originated upstream, at the farm
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to public health worldwide (Allos, 2001; Moore et al, 2006; WHO, 2015). As a participant in the global fight against AMR, Canada developed a new framework for action to face this challenge (PHAC, 2017). Enteritis caused by Campylobacter is the second most common bacterial foodborne disease in Canada, with an estimated incidence of 447 cases per 100,000 person-years (Thomas et al, 2013). In the United States, there are an estimated 310,000 drug-resistant Campylobacter infections per year, and 28 deaths annually are associated with this resistance (CDC, 2014). Most human cases of campylobacteriosis resolve without medical treatment, but for some patients, the use of antimicrobials to treat infections is necessary (Allos, 2001; Gibreel and Taylor, 2006; Deckert et al, 2013a)
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