Prevalence of Campylobacter and antibiotic susceptibility in chickens at slaughterhouses and retail markets in the Mekong Delta

This study aims to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter and its antibiotic susceptibility at slaughterhouses and live poultry markets in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. A total of 177 samples, including 112 fecal samples, 28 cecal samples, and 37 rectal swab samples were collected. Thirty-nine samples tested positive for Campylobacter spp. by culture method, accounting for 22%. Isolation rates of Campylobacter in rectal swab samples were highest at 29.7% (11/37), followed by cecal samples at 25% (7/28) and fecal dropping samples at 18.8% (21/112). Species identification was performed by multiplex PCR and the result showed that the prevalence of Campylobacter coli (12.4%) was higher than Campylobacter jejuni (3.4%). Antibiotic susceptibility test showed that all isolated Campylobacter were susceptible to imipenem and meropenem (100%). Most Campylobacter were resistant to tetracycline (96.4%), ciprofloxacin (92.9%), nalidixic acid (89.3%), and ampicillin (67.9%). This study highlights the high contamination of Campylobacter and its antibiotic resistance in poultry in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.