Prevalence and sensitivity to antibiotics of Campylobacter spp in chicken, farmers and soil in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

INTRODUCTION: campylobacteriosis is zoonotic and one of the leading causes of bacterial foodborne diarrheal disease worldwide. Data on Campylobacter is scarce in Burkina Faso and do not provide information on the growing anti-microbial resistance (AMR) in the poultry value-chain. This study aims to assess the prevalence of Campylobacter spp simultaneously in poultry, in farmers and soil, as well as its impact on the emergence of AMR. METHODS: qualitative survey data provided information on the antibiotics used as breeding promoters in poultry farming. Campylobacter spp. strains were obtained from cloacal swabs, farmers´ stools and soil samples. Isolation and drug sensitivity tests were performed in the bacteriology laboratory of the Centre Muraz using the automated Vitek 2 ID/AST, Biomerieux and Kirby Bauer method. RESULTS: the antibiotics used by farmers included: oxytetracycline, sulfadimidine, colistine, trimazin, erythromycin, streptomycin and colistin. The prevalence of campylobacter in poultry cloacal swabs was 4.44% (95% CI 1.4%, 7.5%). No campylobacter was isolated from human stools and soil samples. Three different species were isolated: Campylobacter jejuni (62.5%), Campylobacter fetus (25%) and Campylobacter coli (12.5%). From these species 37.5% were found to be resistant to ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid, 50% to ampicillin and 87.5% to tetracycline. CONCLUSION: while the resistance of campylobacter to antibiotics relevant to public health was considerable, the overall antibiotic resistance was lower than expected considering the generous use of antimicrobials in poultry breeding.