Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance of Arcobacter spp. Isolates from Meats, Meat Products, and Giblets

Abstract

In this study, the presence and the species distribution of Arcobacter spp. were determined in ground beef, ground lamb, meatballs, chicken meat, and chicken giblet samples (470 samples in total) using the 16S rDNA polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. The presence of Arcobacter spp. was found to be 36.38% (n = 171) in all samples analyzed; 23.3% (n = 63) in ground beef, ground lamb, and meatball samples; 51.3% (n = 77) in chicken meat, and 62% (n -= 31) in giblet samples. Chicken wings had the highest Arcobacter spp. contamination level (72%), and the lowest contamination was found in ground lamb (20%) samples. A higher prevalence of Arcobacter spp. was found in chicken meat and giblets than in other samples, and chicken leg and chicken breast with skin had higher prevalence of Arcobacter spp. than those without skin. A. butzleri was the most isolated species in all samples. In neck, leg, breast, and wings samples, A. cryaerophilus was the second most isolated species. In addition, we assessed antibiotic resistance of the isolates found in this study using 14 different antibiotics. All A. butzleri and A. skirrowii isolates, as well as most of the A. cryaerophilus isolates (96.7%), showed resistance to cefoperazone. A. butzleri isolates were mostly susceptible to norfloxacin (61.5%), florphenicol (60.5%), and amoxicillin/ clavulanic acid. A. skirrowii isolates showed susceptibility to ciprofloxacin (91.6%), norfloxacin (88.8%), and chloramphenicol (83.3%). A. cryaerophilus isolates showed susceptibility to chloramphenicol (96.7%), streptomycin (83.8%), cefoperazone (83.8%), and florphenicol (80.6%). We have identified that many food samples examined in this study were contaminated with Arcobacter species. Arcobacter contamination poses a human health concern and multiple antibiotic resistance in the isolates and this may pose a risk to public health.