ABSTRACT:
Occurrence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli strains isolated from fecal samples of dogs, pigs, cows and hens in southern Ecuador were studied. Of the 250 samples studied, 84 (33.6%) were Campylobacter positive, with C. jejuni being more frequent (78.6%) than C. coli (21.4%), with the exception of porcine samples, from which C. coli was the only species isolated. Multidrug resistance was reported in 10 Campylobacter strains (11.9%), four C. jejuni and six C. coli, and was always associated with nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin resistance. All of the amoxicillin-resistant strains were susceptible to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and were therefore beta-lactamase producers. However, one strain of C. jejuni remained resistant with additional resistance to gentamycin. This is an uncommon resistance pattern in Campylobacter and could reflect different resistance mechanisms.
Key words:
Campylobacter; reservoirs; domestic animals; antimicrobial resistance