Occurrence and Antibiotic Resistance of Arcobacter Species Isolates from Poultry in Tunisia

Abstract

<jats:p>The objectives of this study were i) to isolate Arcobacter species ( Arcobacter butzleri and Arcobacter cryaerophilus )by cultural method from different species of raw poultry meat, ii) to verify the isolates by multiplex PCR assay and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI–TOF MS), iii) and to detect the antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates.Two hundred fifty poultry product samples (149 chicken and 101 turkey)were collected from various supermarkets at Sfax government.The samples purchased consisted of breasts, wings, legs and neck skins.The overall isolation frequency of Arcobacter spp was (10.4%).The highest prevalence of Arcobacter spp. was found in chicken meat (13.42%)followed by turkey meat (5.49%). All the acquired isolates were subject to detailed confirmation with subsequent species classification using multiplex PCR and MALDI–TOF MS. Arcobacter butzleri was the most common positive in 22 samples (84.61%),followed by Arcobacter cryaerophilus positive in 4 samples (15.38%).Regarding the seasonal distribution of Arcobacter from poultry the bacterium was commonly isolated during all season. The contamination level of Arcobacter was found to be (30.76%),(23.07%),(19.23%)and (26.92%)in summer, spring, autumn and winter respectively.Susceptibilities of Arcobacter isolates were determined for 6 antimicrobial drugs using the disk diffusion method. Most of the Arcobacter butzleri isolates (n=24) were resistant to erythromycin (100%), tetracycline (100%), ciprofloxacin (95%), ampicillin (90%). All tested Arcobacter cryaerophilis strains (n= 4) were susceptible to ampicillin, gentamicin and amoxiclav antibiotics. The incidence of Multidrug resistace (MDR) was observed in (83%) of the Arcobacter spp isolates.Our study demonstrating that Arcobacter spp. can be detected in a Tunisian poultry and because of their multiresistance these species may constitute a public health problem.</jats:p>

Genetic characteristics, antimicrobial resistance, and prevalence of Arcobacter spp. isolated from various sources in Shenzhen, China

“…was not isolated from any of the 159 fecal samples. In contrast to our findings, the prevalence of Arcobacter isolated from chicken meat was higher than the prevalence found in Iran (26%) (Khodamoradi and Abiri, 2020), Germany (26.8%) (Lehmann et al, 2015), and Tunisia (13.42%) (Jribi et al, 2020), but similar to that found in Beijing (73.33%) (Wang et al, 2016). Jasim et al (2021) reported that (120/1,293) the prevalence of positive beef samples in Iraq was 9.25%, which was lower than that in the present study.…”

“…Arcobacter -infected poultry is considered the major source of infection (Jribi et al, 2020 ; Khodamoradi and Abiri, 2020 ). The prevalence of Arcobacter in broiler chickens was reported as 26.0% (26/100) in Iran (Khodamoradi and Abiri, 2020 ), 55.7% (54/97) in the south of Chile (Vidal-Veuthey et al, 2021 ), and 73.33% (44/60) in Beijing, China (Wang et al, 2016 ).…”

Molecular Cut-off Values for Aliarcobacter butzleri Susceptibility Testing

“…This is particularly true when AST is performed using the DD method for erythromycin and tetracycline, where epidemiological cut-off values tend to misinterpret a given isolate as NWT. Based on the fact that most isolates did not display specific resistance markers for erythromycin and tetracycline, the A. butzleri resistance rate for these two antimicrobials may be considered low, similar to previous works ( 13 – 15 ), but in contradiction with others ( 37 , 41 , 43 ). Moreover, the identification of genomic resistance markers for ampicillin and ciprofloxacin has allowed us to obtain more accurate results for these two antimicrobials.…”

Species classification and novel plasmid identifications in Arcobacter cryaerophilus and Arcobacter cryaerophilus-like organisms

“…The disease caused by Arcobacter may be self-limited; however, several case studies have reported antibiotic treatment for intestinal and extra-intestinal infections, mainly from the classes of β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides ( Ferreira et al, 2016 ; Mottola et al, 2016 ). Recently, multidrug resistance rates ranging from 20 to 93.8% were reported in A. cryaerophilus isolated from different sources, which might affect the treatment of A. cryaerophilus infection ( Kabeya et al, 2004 ; Van den Abeele et al, 2016 ; Rathlavath et al, 2017 ; Jribi et al, 2020 ; Sciortino et al, 2021 ). The actual role of the mechanisms behind antibiotic resistance has not been thoroughly studied, with this lack of information hampering the evaluation of the disease burden of A. cryaerophilus and its role as a health hazard.…”