Antimicrobial Resistance ofCampylobacterSpecies Isolated from Edible Bivalve Molluscs Purchased from Bangkok Markets, Thailand

Abstract

Campylobacter species have been recognized as the most commonly reported cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. The increase of resistance rates to drugs of choice used for treatment in campylobacteriosis is becoming a public health concern. In parallel, the increased use of antimicrobials in aquaculture may lead to the emergence of resistant microorganisms and is likely to cause additional health risk to humans through food consumption. The study assesses the presence of antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter species isolated from three groups of bivalve molluscs (bloody cockles, green mussels, and oysters) purchased from markets in Bangkok. Thirty samples were collected from each group. Susceptibility to three antimicrobials was determined using the Epsilometer test. Rates of erythromycin, nalidixic acid, and ciprofloxacin resistance in Campylobacter isolates were 72-84%, 28-40%, and 21-25%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of each antimicrobial resistance between the three groups. This study demonstrates a significant level of antimicrobial resistance in the Campylobacter spp. isolated from molluscs with a particular high rate of resistance to erythromycin. Consumption of raw molluscs contaminated with antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter spp. may therefore result in resistant infections in humans.

Antimicrobial Usage and Antimicrobial Resistance in Animal Production in Southeast Asia: A Review

“…isolates from animal sources, including poultry (16 publications) [41,58,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74], pigs (4) [64,68,70,75], and aquaculture products (1) [76]. Three publications reported phenotypic AMR profiles from both poultry and pig isolates.…”

“…isolates were tested, resulting in 25 estimates of AMR prevalence. In most studies (except two) [71,76], the strains were species identified (either by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or by phenotypic methods).…”

“…Study on mollusks showed that Campylobacter spp. isolates were highly resistant to erythromycin (77.1%), nalidixic acid (32.7%), and ciprofloxacin (23.4%) [76]. …”

Invasive Salmonellosis in Urban Thai Children

“…The high rate of ceftriaxone resistance (17%) is probably due to the indiscriminate use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in humans and animal husbandry or the food industry. [71][72][73][74][75] A multinational survey in Asia showed the rate of reduced susceptibility to ciprofloxacin to be as high as 46.2% and 48.1% in Thailand and Taiwan, respectively. 76 In this survey, the reduced susceptibility to ceftriaxone (minimal inhibitory concentration, 2-8 μg/mL) was reported to be relatively uncommon in Asia, except in Taiwan (38.0%).…”

Joint Opinion on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) focused on zoonotic infections

“…A Czech study comparing isolates from poultry and humans by microdilution, reported higher resistance among Campylobacter from animals, with the latter showing 6% resistance to erythromycin compared to 1% for human isolates (Bardon, J et al, 2009). In bivalve molluscs harvested in Thailand, 72-84% were resistant to erythromycin by E-test, highlighting the importance of aquaculture as a reservoir for these antimicrobial-resistant pathogens (Soonthornchaikul, N and Garelick, H, 2009). …”