Prevalence and characterization of antibiotic susceptibility of Campylobacter strains from the chicken meat industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Antibiotic resistance in Campylobacter species is a serious food safety concern, and monitoring resistant isolates is crucial for risk assessment. This study aimed to examine the antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter species isolates obtained from samples of raw chicken meat, meat products and production work surfaces in slaughterhouses and production plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The study included a total of 225 samples, 50 chicken meat samples, 50 samples of processed chicken meat (salami, chicken ham, hot dogs, chicken pates, cold cuts), 75 work surface swabs and 50 worker hand swabs collected from two slaughterhouses. After isolation (ISO 10272-2:2017) and identification (biochemical tests, Vitek 2), antibiotic resistance to three types of antibiotics was tested using the disk diffusion method (EUCAST). All isolates were susceptible to erythromycin, most were susceptible to tetracycline and all exhibited resistance to ciprofloxacin. No multiresistant strains were observed. The study showed the presence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates resistant to the critically important antibiotic ciprofloxacin. Cessation of the use of fluoroquinolones in broilers would have a positive impact on the reduction of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter isolates in the chicken meat industry. This original research does not include samples from primary production, nor does it include genotypic characterization of antibiotic resistance genes, which would be important to do in future research in order to open new broader perspectives in the approached research area.