Purpose: To determine the prevalence of susceptible and resistant Campylobacter in retail ground beef in Lubbock, Texas.
Methods: A total of 178 ground beef samples were collected from seven stores across the city of Lubbock, Texas. Samples were rinsed and enriched with Bolton broth and processed in accordance with standard BAX protocols (Dupont Qualicon) for the detection of Campylobacter. Recovered isolates were subjected to the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System protocol utilizing the SWIN software. A multiple proportion test was performed using the statistical analysis software R to determine relationships between susceptible and resistant Campylobacter isolates.
Results: There were 88 recovered, positive Campylobacter isolates were resistant to four out of nine antibiotics (erythromycin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline). Campylobacter isolates expressed resistance as follows: 4.54% (n = 4) for ciprofloxacin, 91.9% (n =68) for erythromycin, 15.3% (n = 13) for gentamicin, and 4.60% (n = 4) tetracycline. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the prevalence of resistant Campylobacter observed among the four antibiotics. Only 3.41% (n = 3) of the isolates were multidrug resistant as defined by the isolate exhibiting resistance to three or more classes of antibiotics.
Significance: The highest amount of resistance was from erythromycin, a macrolide. Though erythromycin is not used in the cattle industry, other macrolides are administered to cattle to prevent liver abscess. It is important to consider resistant pathogen contamination at the retail level in order to better understand the need for pathogen interventions from farm to fork to protect public health.