Molecular Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli Isolates of Poultry, Swine, and Cattle Origin Collected from Slaughterhouses in Hungary

Campylobacter spp. are the most common cause of bacterial enteritis in Hungary, and the aim of this study was to identify the distribution, genotypes, and antimicrobial susceptibility of Campylobacter species in the most important food-producing animals at the time of slaughter during 2008 and 2009. Of 1,110 samples, 266 were identified as Campylobacter coli (23.9%) and 143 as C. jejuni (12.9%) by real-time PCR. Resistance to enrofloxacin-ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid was significant, especially in C. jejuni (73.3%) and C. coli (77.2%) from broilers. Higher erythromycin (P = 0.043) and tetracycline (P = 1.865e-14) resistance rates were found among C. coil isolates (9.7 and 74.1%, respectively) than among C. jejuni isolates (3.1 and 36.6%, respectively). A total of 47 flu short variable region sequences were identified among 73 selected C. coli and C. jejuni isolates, with 35 flu types detected only once. At the nucleotide level, fla types A66 and A21 were the most common. Using the pulsed-field gel electrophoresis method, 66% of strains exhibited unique profiles after SmaI digestion. Forty-two isolates assigned to 18 SmaI clusters were further typed by KpnI, and of these, 24 were assigned to 10 KpnI clusters. For isolates in five KpnI clusters, epidemiological links were observed. Stable C. jejuni and C. coli clones were detected, indicating that further studies involving broiler and human isolates need to be conducted to elucidate the importance of these stable clones in human infections.