Campylobacter spp. isolation from infected poultry livers with and without necrotic lesions.

This study was developed in order to understand the possible intervention of Campylobacter spp. as etiological agent of necrotic lesions in poultry livers. This way, Campylobacter spp. was isolated from poultry livers with and without necrotic lesions. Additionally, virulence factors ( cad F and cdt B) and antimicrobial resistance profile of the isolated strains were analyzed. From a total of 39 liver samples analyzed, 21 presented lesions and 18 were clean. Campylobacter spp. was isolated from 80.9% of liver samples with necrotic lesions (17/21) and from 38.9% of liver samples without lesions (7/18). These results indicate poultry liver as a potential source of human Campylobacter infection, since this bacteria may remain viable in the internal liver tissue in undercooked conditions. A high resistance to nalidixic acid (100%), norfloxacin (100%), ciprofloxacin (95.8%), ampicillin (91.6%) and tetracycline (75%) was observed among Campylobacter spp. isolates. Also, PCR detection of cdt B and cad F virulence and toxin genes, revealed 75% and 68.8% of positive samples, respectively. Strains isolated from livers with and without lesions presented similar results with respect to virulence factors and to antimicrobial resistance profiles, evidencing that these putative pathogenic determinants are widespread among the isolates from poultry livers. Phi coefficient calculated in order to measure the degree of association, revealed a highly significant association (Phi = 0.472; p -value < 0.01) between the presence of livers with hepatic necrosis lesions and Campylobacter isolation. This result indicates the possibility of using these macroscopic lesions as visible and reliable indicator of Campylobacter spp. presence in poultry flock, and, thus, becoming an important tool to support the implementation of corrective measures at poultry farms level. This methodology could contribute for an accurate time-efficient monitoring and the development of effective prevention and intervention measures for Campylobacter spp. infection with reduced cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]