Author(s):
Ferreira, Susana 
; Fraqueza, Maria João ; Queiroz, João ; Domingues, Fernanda ; Oleastro, Mónica
Date: 2012
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.18/1389
Origin: Repositório Científico do Instituto Nacional de Saúde
Subject(s): Arcobacter Butzleri; Poultry; Antibiotic Resistance; Infecções Gastrointestinais
Description
Arcobacter is considered an emerging enteric pathogen, commonly associated with
diarrhea, abdominal pain and in some cases with bacteriemia. This genus is widely distributed,
with fteen species identi ed to date, of which the most common is Arcobacter butzleri.
Arcobacter spp. has been isolated from environmental, animal, food and human samples, but
poultry is considered its main reservoir. The extended use of antibiotics for disease control
in modern food animal production, leads to a spread of resistant pathogenic bacteria, and
Arcobacter spp. is no exception to this rule.
In this study, 43 A. butzleri isolates were obtained from poultry and environment samples at
a Portuguese slaughterhouse, also three reference strains were included. All isolates were
con rmed at species level by multiplex PCR; genomic DNA ngerprints of all isolates were
determined using Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) after enzymatic digestion with SmaI.
Resistance pro les to nine antibiotics were assessed by broth microdilution method.
Fifteen unique and 11 common PFGE ngerprints were identi ed among the 43 Arcobacter
isolates studied, generating a total of 26 di erent PFGE ngerprints. This data demonstrates
the high genetic diversity observed among Arcobacter isolates. Concerning the antibiotic
susceptibility, all isolates tested were susceptible to gentamycin and one strain presented
resistance to chloramphenicol. In contrast, 24 of the 43 isolates (55.8%) were resistant to
cipro oxacin. All the studied isolates presented resistance to multiple antibiotics simultaneously,
especially to ampicillin, vancomycin, trimethoprim, piperacillin, cefoperazone and amoxicillin.
The results showed that A. butzleri isolated in Portugal presents a high genetic diversity, but
also show high levels of resistance to several antimicrobial agents, this fact could represent a
potential health hazard for humans through food chain contamination.
