PREVALENCE AND ANTIBIOTICS SUSCEPTIBILITY OF THERMOTOLERANT CAMPYLOBACTER spp. ISOLATED FROM HUMANS AND CHICKENS IN THE REPUBLIC OF GUINEA

Abstract

Background. The issue of diarrheal diseases remains relevant for modern health care in all countries. Campylobacteriosis is the most common infectious disease with foodborne transmission and poultry meat is a transmission factor. Materials and methods. 724 items of faeces sampled from patients with diarrheal syndrome and 283 samples of faeces of chickens raised on private farms and five poultry farms in the province were studied. For bacteriological method were used selective media. Traditional routine tests (cell morphology, cytochrome oxidase, catalase, hydrolysis of sodium hippurate and indoxyl acetate) and MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry was performed for identification. The susceptibility of strains to antibiotics was analysed using the disc-diffusion method. Results were interpreted according to the EUCAST criteria, versions 2019–2022. Results. Campylobacter spp. was cultured in 65 out of 724 faecal samples from patients with acute diarrhoea, of them 83.08% were identified as C. jejuni, and 16.92% as C. coli. Of the 237 Campylobacter strains from chicken were identified as C. jejuni (54.0%), as C. coli (46.0%). Campylobacter spp. strains from humans were resistant to tetracycline (40.0%), to erythromycin (6.15%), to ciprofloxacin (12.31%). The strains from chickens kept on farms, were resistant to tetracycline in 42.55%, to ciprofloxacin — in 22.70% and to erythromycin — in 11.35%. The strains from chickens kept on private farms were resistant to tetracycline in 4.17%, to ciprofloxacin — in 1.04%, all strains were sensitive to erythromycin. Conclusion. Thus, due to the widespread prevalence of Campylobacter spp., infectious diseases they cause remain a topical issue. Studying the resistance to antibiotics in Campylobacter spp. among poultry could allow to develop new approaches to confirming the significance of their foodborne nature and to improve the national disease prevention system.