Comparison of antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from humans and chicken carcasses in Poland.

Campylobacter-associated gastroenteritis remains an important cause of morbidity worldwide, and some evidence suggests that poultry is an important source of this foodborne infection in humans. This study was conducted to analyze the prevalence and genetic background of resistance of 149 Campylobacter jejuni and 54 Campylobacter coli strains isolated from broiler chicken carcasses and from stool samples of infected children in Poland from 2003 through 2005. Nearly all isolates were susceptible to macrolides and aminoglycosides. The highest resistance in both human and chicken strains was observed for ciprofloxacin (more than 40%), followed by ampicillin (13 to 21%), and tetracycline (8 to 29%). Resistance to ampicillin and tetracycline rose significantly between 2003 and 2005. Slight differences in resistance between human and chicken isolates indicate that although chicken meat is not the only source of Campylobacter infection in our population, it can be involved in the transmission of drug-resistant Campylobacter strains to humans.