Campylobacter and its multi-resistance in the food chain

Increasing antimicrobial resistance is an urgent world-wide problem, including multidrug resistant microorganisms transmitted via the food chain. Campylobacteriosis is the leading bacterial food-borne illness and most frequently reported zoonosis in humans. Despite the differences in results and some insufficiency in the methodological harmonization among reports from different countries, there was an evident increase in prevalence and multiple resistance of Campylobacter in food production environments in central and southern EU-member states (MSs). Non-specific efflux pumps are involved in bacterial reduced susceptibility and/or resistance against antibiotics and other unrelated antimicrobials, including bile salts. Beside this, the synergistic antimicrobial activity of some compounds which could act as inhibitors of efflux pumps is a challenge to develop more efficient protection against food-borne pathogens. Testing the activity of known and putative natural efflux pump inhibitors (EPIs) in Campylobacter resistant isolates revealed new information about the mechanisms involved in resistance and new approaches for Campylobacter risk management.