Occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter isolates from broiler chicken and slaughter house environment in India.

Campylobacteriosis is among the most frequently reported foodborne zoonoses. A total of 848 samples were screened for Campylobacter spp. and occurrence was found to be 8.7%, 2.3% and 1.65% in broiler cecum samples, chicken meat samples and slaughter house environment swabs, respectively. High level of antimicrobial resistance was found against tetracycline (64.1%), doxycycline (54.4%), ampicillin (46.6%), nalidixic acid (42.7%), kanamycin (35.9%), and ciprofloxacin (33.33%). Resistance to co-amoxiclav (19.4%) and erythromycin (21.4%) was less common. The MAR index of the isolates was in the range of 0.11-0.78. Multi-drug resistance was observed in 54.4% of the isolates, with 53.2% C. jejuni and 55.3% C. coli isolates found resistant against three or more classes of antimicrobials. Presence of mutations in gyrA and 23S rRNA genes was investigated, which revealed that all the fluoroquinolone resistant isolates possessed Thr-86-Ile point mutation, whereas only 68% of erythromycin resistant isolates had A2075G mutation. The tetO gene was present in 91.7% tetracycline resistant isolates and blaOXA-61 gene was detected in 97.9% of the ampicillin resistant isolates. The occurrence of antimicrobial resistant Campylobacter spp. in broiler chicken samples and slaughter house settings is a public health risk and calls for judicial use of antimicrobials.

Virulent methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in street vended foods.

Street foods are one of the important sources of foodborne infections and Staphylococcus aureus is an important infectious agent transmitted through various sources including street foods. The methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) are of public health significance, hence the study was taken to assess the street foods as a source of MRSA, for which 430 street vended foods of animal origin (meat, milk, eggs and their products) and associated environmental samples were processed for isolation and characterization. A total of 52 (12.1%) S. aureus were isolated and resistant was observed to oxacillin (36.5%), cefoxitin (25%) and penicillin G (82.7%) by disc diffusion test. On genotypic screening, mecA and blaZ have detected in 17.3% and 69.2% isolates, respectively. The virulence typing identified nuc, coa, clfA, spA, FnbA and enterotoxin A (sea) genes in 100%, 96.2%, 30.8%, 55.8, 50% and 7.7% isolates, respectively. Genetic diversity among the isolates was observed by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus PCR with a D value of 0.77. The presence of virulent MRSA in street vended foods trigger the public health concern and emphasis to educate the consumers and street food vendors about quality and safety of such foods.

Prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in captive wildlife species of India.

Campylobacteriosis is an important zoonotic disease and the prevalence of Campylobacter is largely unknown in the wildlife of India. A total of 370 samples, comprising of 314 fresh faecal samples from apparently healthy captive wild animals and birds, 30 stool swabs from animal care takers and 26 samples of the animals' food and water were collected from G. B. Pant High Altitude Zoo, Nainital, Kanpur Zoo, Wildlife Park, IVRI and the Post Graduate Research Institute in Animal Sciences (PGRIAS), Chennai, Tamilnadu from August 2014 to May 2015. Samples were processed for cultural isolation, direct PCR and multiplex PCR for species confirmation. To decipher the genetic diversity, the 16S rRNA gene was amplified, sequenced and analyzed. Based on isolation, the overall occurrence rate of Campylobacter spp. was 0.8% (3/370), being 2.94% (3/102) for captive wild birds. Three Campylobacter jejuni were isolated from silver pheasants, lady amherest pheasants and saras cranes. Direct PCR assay showed the overall occurrence rate of Campylobacter spp. to be 4.77% (15/315), being 1.58% (2/126) for captive wild ruminants, 5.81% (5/86) for non-ruminants and 7.84% (8/102) for birds. All the isolates were identified as C. jejuni.