Abstract
We investigated trends in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in poultry between 2010 and 2016 in Germany and their association with antimicrobial use. Campylobacter had been isolated from the caeca of broilers and turkeys at slaughter by regional laboratories according to current ISO methods in the framework of a national monitoring program. Isolates were submitted to the National Reference Laboratory for Campylobacter and tested for AMR using broth microdilution methods. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were evaluated according to epidemiological cut-off values. Antimicrobial use (AMU) data from 2014 to 2016 were taken from a government report. AMR was higher in C. coli than in C. jejuni and higher in turkeys than in broilers. AMR was highest to tetracycline and the tested (fluoro)quinolones while it was rare to gentamicin in both bacterial species, infrequent to erythromycin in C. jejuni, and moderate in C. coli. AMR to tetracycline and erythromycin decreased over time while it increased to (fluoro)quinolones. An association of AMU and AMR was observed for resistance to tetracycline and erythromycin, while it was not observed for the aminoglycosides. Resistance to nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin increased despite a decrease of fluoroquinolone use between 2014 and 2016, indicating that other factors have a strong influence on resistance to (fluoro)quinolones in Campylobacter.
Highlights
Campylobacteriosis is the most frequent foodborne enteric disease in humans in Germany and the European Union (EU) [1]
Antimicrobial use (AMU) in broilers was highest for aminoglycosides, followed by fluoroquinolones (Table 1)
AMU has decreased in broilers and turkeys between 2014 and 2016 [17]. These detailed data can be considered the best available data on AMU in farm animals in Germany. As they were only available for analysis for the interval between 2014 and 2017, and resistance data on isolates from poultry according to Commission Implementing Decision (CID) 2013/652/EU are only collected in even years, the analysis had to be restricted to data from the years 2014 to 2016
Summary
Campylobacteriosis is the most frequent foodborne enteric disease in humans in Germany and the European Union (EU) [1]. Most Campylobacter infections are self-limiting but severe and systemic infections may require antimicrobial treatment. A recent study observed that in around one third of the cases, campylobacteriosis was treated with antimicrobials in Germany [2]. Campylobacter infections in humans are foodborne, AMR in Campylobacter from animals and food has a substantial impact on AMR in Campylobacter causing infections in humans [3]. This is especially valid for Campylobacter from poultry, as several studies have attributed poultry a major role as a source of human infections [2,4]
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