Campylobacter jejuni, a common foodborne zoonotic pathogen, causes gastroenteritis worldwide and is increasingly resistant to antibiotics. We aimed to investigate the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genotypes of C. jejuni isolated from humans, poultry and birds from wild and urban Italian habitats to identify correlations between phenotypic and genotypic AMR in the isolates. Altogether, 644 C. jejuni isolates from humans (51), poultry (526) and wild- and urban-habitat birds (67) were analysed. The resistance phenotypes of the isolates were determined using the microdilution method with EUCAST breakpoints, and AMR-associated genes and single nucleotide polymorphisms were obtained from a publicly available database. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing showed that C. jejuni isolates from poultry and humans were highly resistant to ciprofloxacin (85.55% and 76.47%, respectively), nalidixic acid (75.48% and 74.51%, respectively) and tetracycline (67.87% and 49.02%, respectively). Fewer isolates from the wild- and urban-habitat birds were resistant to tetracycline (19.40%), fluoroquinolones (13.43%), and quinolone and streptomycin (10.45%). We retrieved seven AMR genes (tet (O), cmeA, cmeB, cmeC, cmeR, blaOXA-61 and blaOXA-184) and gyrA-associated point mutations. Two major B-lactam genes called blaOXA-61 and blaOXA-184 were prevalent at 62.93% and 82.08% in the poultry and the other bird groups, respectively. Strong correlations between genotypic and phenotypic resistance were found for fluoroquinolones and tetracycline. Compared with the farmed chickens, the incidence of AMR in the C. jejuni isolates from the other bird groups was low, confirming that the food-production birds are much more exposed to antimicrobials. The improper and overuse of antibiotics in the human population and in animal husbandry has resulted in an increase in antibiotic-resistant infections, particularly fluoroquinolone resistant ones. Better understanding of the AMR mechanisms in C. jejuni is necessary to develop new strategies for improving AMR programs and provide the most appropriate therapies to human and veterinary populations.

Campylobacter has developed resistance to several antimicrobial agents over the years, including macrolides, quinolones and fluoroquinolones, becoming a significant public health hazard. A total of 145 strains derived from raw milk, chicken faeces, chicken carcasses, cattle faeces and human faeces collected from various Italian regions, were screened for antimicrobial susceptibility, molecular characterization (SmaI pulsed-field gel electrophoresis) and detection of virulence genes (sequencing and DNA microarray analysis). The prevalence of C. jejuni and C. coli was 62.75% and 37.24% respectively. Antimicrobial susceptibility revealed a high level of resistance for ciprofloxacin (62.76%), tetracycline (55.86%) and nalidixic acid (55.17%). Genotyping of Campylobacter isolates using PFGE revealed a total of 86 unique SmaI patterns. Virulence gene profiles were determined using a new microbial diagnostic microarray composed of 70-mer oligonucleotide probes targeting genes implicated in Campylobacter pathogenicity. Correspondence between PFGE and microarray clusters was observed. Comparisons of PFGE and virulence profiles reflected the high genetic diversity of the strains examined, leading us to speculate different degrees of pathogenicity inside Campylobacter populations.

Campylobacter species are common foodborne pathogens associated with cases of human gastroenteritis worldwide. A detailed understanding of the prevalence, contamination levels and molecular characteristics of Campylobacter spp. in cattle and chicken, which are likely the most important sources of human contamination, is imperative. A collection of 1243 poultry meat samples (665 chicken breasts and 578 chicken thighs) and 1203 bovine meat samples (689 hamburgers and 514 knife-cut meat preparations) were collected at retail outlets, in randomly selected supermarkets located in different Italian regions during one year. Of these samples, 17.38% of the poultry meat and 0.58% of the bovine meat samples tested positive for Campylobacter, of which 131 were Campylobacter jejuni (57.96%) and 95 were Campylobacter coli (42.03%). Campylobacter isolates were genotyped with the aim of assessing the genetic diversity, population structure, source distribution and Campylobacter transmission route to humans. All isolates were molecularly characterized by pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and further genotyped using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and fla-SVR sequencing to gain better insight into the population structure. Antibiotic resistance was also investigate. The highest levels of resistance among chicken strains were observed for ciprofloxacin (88.25%), nalidixic acid (81.45%) and tetracycline (75.6%). PFGE analysis revealed 73 pulsotypes for C. jejuni and 54 pulsotypes for C. coli, demonstrating the existance of different and specific clones circulating in Italy. MLST of C.jejuni isolates mainly clustered in the CC353, CC354, CC21, CC206 and CC443; while C.coli isolates clustered only in CC828. The most common flaA alleles were 287 for C. jejuni and 66 for C. coli. Our study confirms that poultry meat is the main source of Campylobacteriosis, whereas red meat had a low level of contamination suggesting a minor role in transmission. The high presence of Campylobacter in retail chicken meat, paired with its increased resistance to antimicrobials with several multidrug resistance profiles detected, is alarming and represents a persistent threat to public health.

This study aimed to analyse the diversity of the Campylobacter jejuni population in broilers and to evaluate the major source of contamination in poultry meat. Eight rearing cycles over one year provided samples from three different broiler farms processed at the same slaughterhouse. A total of 707  C. jejuni were isolated from cloacal swabs before slaughter and from the breast skin of carcasses after slaughter and after chilling. All suspected Campylobacter colonies were identified with PCR assays and C. jejuni was genotyped by sequence analysis of the flaA short variable region (SVR) and by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) using SmaI enzyme. Phenotypic antibiotic resistance profiles were also assayed using minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). The flocks carried many major C. jejuni clones possibly carrying over the rearing cycles, but cross contamination between farms may happen. Many isolates were resistant to fluoroquinolones, raising an issue of high public concern. Specific Campylobacter populations could be harboured within each poultry farm, with the ability to contaminate chickens during each new cycle. Thus, although biosecurity measures are applied, with a persistent source of contamination, they cannot be efficient. The role of the environment needs further investigation to better address strategies to control Campylobacter.

Significant advancements have been made in the comprehension of molecular mechanisms underlying teratogenic effects mediated by azole derivatives. Increasing evidence is linking disruption of embryonic retinoic acid homeostasis as a crucial determinant of azole-mediated teratogenesis.

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Food-borne campylobacteriosis is caused mainly by the handling or consumption of undercooked chicken meat or by the ingestion of contaminated raw milk. Knowledge about the contributions of different food sources to gastrointestinal disease is fundamental to prioritize food safety interventions and to establish proper control strategies. Assessing the genetic diversity among Campylobacter species is essential to our understanding of their epidemiology and population structure. We molecularly characterized 56 Campylobacter jejuni isolates (31 from patients hospitalized with gastroenteritis, 17 from raw milk samples, and 8 from chicken samples) using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in order to trace the source of the disease. We also used a population genetic approach to investigate the source of the human cases from six different reservoirs of infection. MLST identified 25 different sequence types and 11 clonal complexes (CCs) (21, 658, 206, 353, 443, 48, 61, 257, 1332, 354, 574) and these included several alleles not cited previously in the PubMLST international database. The most prevalent CCs were 21, 206, and 354. PFGE showed 34 pulsotypes divided between 28 different clusters. At the fine scale, by means of PFGE and MLST, only two human cases were linked to raw milk, while one case was linked to chicken meat. The investigation revealed the presence of several genotypes among the human isolates, which probably suggests multiple foci for the infections. Finally, the source attribution model we used revealed that most cases were attributed to chicken (69.75%) as the main reservoir in Italy, followed to a lesser extent by the following sources: cattle (8.25%); environment (6.28%); wild bird (7.37%); small ruminant (5.35%), and pork (2.98%). This study confirms the importance of correlating epidemiological investigations with molecular epidemiological data to better understand the dynamics of infection.

In this study, a herbal preparation containing Dalbergia sissoo and Datura stramoium with cow urine (DSDS), was evaluated for its antibacterial potential against pathogenic strains of gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae) and gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae) bacteria. Antibacterial activity was compared to standard antibiotic drugs i.e. Chloramphenicol (30 mcg), Ampicillin (10 mcg), Nalidixic acid (10 mcg) and Rifampicin (30 mcg). Cow urine extract was found to be most active against both gram-positive as well as gram-negative bacteria. Clinical isolate of S. aureus showed higher sensitivity towards cow urine extract of DSDS than standard strains, and inhibited growth on most regulatory levels such as inhibition of protein, DNA, RNA and peptidoglycan synthesis. The results of the present study shows that the cow urine extract of DSDS may be used as a potent antiseptic preparation for prevention and treatment of chronic bacterial infections.