Clonal Dissemination and Cluster Analysis of Campylobacter spp. strains among humans and the food chain in Italy during 2023

Clonal Dissemination and Cluster Analysis of Campylobacter spp. strains among humans and the food chain in Italy during 2023. In this study 258 Campylobacter spp. isolates obtained from patients from the voluntary network, Enter-Net Italia and from food samples in collected by the IZS Teramo in Italy in 2023 have been analysed by WGS. Using cgMLST, we identified several genetic clusters among clinical isolates, indicative of potential outbreak scenarios. The cluster analysis revealed significant concordance between clinical isolates and those from food sources, providing insights into possible infection transmission pathways and sources. The results were also crucial for understanding the epidemiology of Campylobacter spp. infections, the distribution of antimicrobial resistance, and the genetic basis of resistance mechanisms in these pathogenic bacteria.