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A survey of fluoroquinolone resistance in Escherichia coli and thermophilic Campylobacter spp. on poultry and pig farms in Great Britain
Author(s) -
Taylor N.M.,
Davies R.H.,
Ridley A.,
Clouting C.,
Wales A.D.,
CliftonHadley F.A.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2008.03877.x
Subject(s) - campylobacter , ciprofloxacin , biology , veterinary medicine , feces , escherichia coli , poultry farming , campylobacter coli , microbiology and biotechnology , broiler , bacteria , food science , antibiotics , medicine , ecology , biochemistry , genetics , gene
Aims: To estimate the proportions of farms on which broilers, turkeys and pigs were shedding fluoroquinolone (FQ)‐resistant Escherichia coli or Campylobacter spp. near to slaughter. Methods and Results: Freshly voided faeces were collected on 89 poultry and 108 pig farms and cultured with media containing 1·0 mg l −1 ciprofloxacin. Studies demonstrated the specificity of this sensitive method, and both poultry and pig sampling yielded FQ‐resistant E. coli on 60% of farms. FQ‐resistant Campylobacter spp. were found on around 22% of poultry and 75% of pig farms. The majority of resistant isolates of Campylobacter (89%) and E. coli (96%) tested had minimum inhibitory concentrations for ciprofloxacin of ≥8 mg l −1 . The proportion of resistant E. coli and Campylobacter organisms within samples varied widely. Conclusions: FQ resistance is commonly present among two enteric bacterial genera prevalent on pig and poultry farms, although the low proportion of resistant organisms in many cases requires a sensitive detection technique. Significance and Impact of the Study: FQ‐resistant bacteria with zoonotic potential appear to be present on a high proportion of UK pig and poultry farms. The risk this poses to consumers relative to other causes of FQ‐resistant human infections remains to be clarified.