A five-year study on prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter from poultry carcasses in Poland

• A broad study on Campylobacter prevalence and antimicrobial resistance was performed.
• Decreased incidence of Campylobacter in poultry carcasses in Poland during 2009–2013 was noted.
• High resistance rate of Campylobacter to ciprofloxacin was identified.
• Increased resistance to ciprofloxacin and tetracycline in Campylobacter jejuni was found.
• Differences in resistance profiles between C. jejuni and Campylobacter coli were observed.

During 2009–2013 a total of 2114 swab samples collected from broiler carcasses in all 16 voivodeships (administrative districts) of Poland were examined for the presence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. The antimicrobial resistance of the isolates to ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and erythromycin using the MIC method was also tested. It was found that 1151 (54.4%) carcasses were contaminated with Campylobacter, with 50% of C. jejuni and C. coli species isolated from positive samples. The temporal trend in the prevalence of Campylobacter-positive samples demonstrated that the highest percentage of carcasses was contaminated during the first year of the survey (70.5%) whereas in the last year (2013) only 36.3% of broilers contained these bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance analysis showed that overall 939 (81.6%) of isolates were resistant to ciprofloxacin, 646 (56.1%) to tetracycline but only 28 (2.4%) to erythromycin. Significant differences in resistance profiles between C. jejuni and C. coli were observed with greater resistance level observed in the latter species. Furthermore, a significant increase in the percentage of C. jejuni resistant to ciprofloxacin (from 59.6% in 2009 to 85.9% in 2014) and to tetracycline (from 23.2% to 70.4%, respectively) was identified. Only 20 (1.7%) Campylobacter isolates displayed a multiresistance pattern.