Campylobacter jejuni from canine and bovine cases of campylobacteriosis express high antimicrobial resistance rates against (fluoro)quinolones and tetracyclines. Campylobacter jejuni from canine and bovine cases of campylobacteriosis express high antimicrobial resistance rates against (fluoro)quinolones and tetracyclines

Campylobacter (C.) spp. from poultry is the main source of food-borne humane campylobacteriosis, but diseased pets and cattle shedding Campylobacter spp. may contribute sporadically as a source of human infections. While fluoroquinolones are one of the drugs of choice for treatment of severe human campylobacteriosis, resistance rates of C. jejuni and C. coli from poultry against antibiotics including fluoroquinolones are monitored within the European program on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in livestock.. However, much less is published on AMR rates of C. jejuni and C. coli from pets and cattle. Therefore, C. jejuni and C. coli isolated from diseased animals were tested phenotypically for AMR and associated AMR genes or mutations were identified by whole genome sequencing. High resistance rates to (fluoro)quinolones (41%) and tetracyclines (61.1%) were found in C. jejuni (n=29/66). (Fluoro)quinolone resistance was associated with the known point mutation in the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) of gyrA. And tetracycline resistance was mostly caused by the tet(O) gene. These high resistance rates especially to critically important antibiotics in C. jejuni and C. coli are worrisome not only in veterinary medicine. Efforts to preserve efficacy of important antimicrobial treatment options in human and veterinary medicine have to be strengthened in the future.