Comparison of antimicrobial resistance in thermophilic Campylobacter strains isolated from conventional production and backyard poultry flocks

1. The aim of this study was to compare the resistance pattern of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. isolated from conventional production (n = 34) and backyard poultry flocks (n = 36) from Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The disc diffusion method and statistical tests were used for investigation and analysis of the resistance pattern of Campylobacter spp. isolated from different rearing systems. 2. Antimicrobial resistance percentages to amoxycillin with clavulanic acid (AMC), ampicillin (AMP), ceftiofur (CTF), ciprofloxacin (CIP), enrofloxacin (ENO), erythromycin (ERI), gentamicin (GEN) and tetracycline (TET) were 32.4%, 44.1%, 67.6%, 97.1%, 82.4%, 26.5%, 5.9% and 38.2% in conventional production flocks respectively, while the backyard flock's resistance levels were 0.0%, 13.9%, 69.4%, 100.0%, 91.7%, 5.6%, 0.0% and 16.7%, respectively. 3. Campylobacter spp. from conventional poultry production was more resistant to AMC, AMO, ERI and TET (P > 0.05) when compared to strains from backyard poultry. A higher frequency of resistance to fluoroquinolones (FLQ), CIP and ENO, was observed in strains from both systems, demonstrating the spread of resistant strains among poultry production environments.