Antimicrobial resistance patterns of Campylobacter spp. isolated from raw chicken, turkey, quail, partridge, and ostrich meat in Iran

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance pattern of Campylobacter spp. isolated from retail raw poultry meats in Iran. From July 2009 to March 2010, a total of 494 raw meat samples from chicken (n = 200), turkey (n = 170), quail (n = 86), partridge (n = 17), and ostrich (n = 21) were purchased from randomly selected retail outlets in Shahrekord, Iran. Using cultural method, 187 meat samples (37.9%) were contaminated with Campylobacter. The highest prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was found in chicken meat (47.0%) followed by quail (43.0%), partridge (35.3%), turkey (28.8%), and ostrich (4.8%) meat. The most prevalent Campylobacter species was Campylobacter jejuni (92.0%). The PCR assay could identify 38 Campylobacter-contaminated samples that were negative using the cultural method. Antimicrobial susceptibility test results showed that 98.4% of isolates were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agents. Resistance to tetracycline was the most common findings (70.6%), followed by resistance to nalidixic acid (54.0%), and ciprofloxacin (49.7%). Significantly higher prevalence rates of Campylobacter spp. (P < 0.05) were found in meat samples taken in summer (51.1%). To our knowledge, the present study is the first report of the isolation of Campylobacter spp. from raw partridge meat in Iran.