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JAC Advance Access originally published online on August 4, 2009
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2009 64(4):702-711; doi:10.1093/jac/dkp277
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Original research

Amoxicillin therapy of poultry flocks: effect upon the selection of amoxicillin-resistant commensal Campylobacter spp.

Nicola C. Elviss1,{dagger}, Lisa K. Williams1, Frieda Jørgensen1, Stephanie A. Chisholm2, Andrew J. Lawson2, Craig Swift2, Robert J. Owen2, Deborah J. Griggs3, Maggie M. Johnson3, Tom J. Humphrey4 and Laura J. V. Piddock3,*

1 Health Protection Agency, Food borne Zoonoses Unit, School of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK 2 Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency, London, UK 3 School of Immunity and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK 4 Division of Veterinary Pathology, Infection and Immunity, School of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Received 15 May 2009; returned 15 June 2009; revised 8 July 2009; accepted 9 July 2009

* Corresponding author. Antimicrobial Agents Research Group, School of Immunity & Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. Tel: +44 121 414 6966; Fax: +44 121 414 6819; E-mail: l.j.v.piddock{at}bham.ac.uk

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of amoxicillin therapy of poultry flocks upon the persistence of commensal Campylobacter spp. and the incidence of antibiotic resistance.

Methods: Four poultry flocks naturally colonized with Campylobacter were treated with amoxicillin and monitored before, during and up to 4 weeks post-treatment. The numbers of Campylobacter were determined and the isolates speciated and typed by flaA short variable region (SVR) sequence analysis and PFGE. The susceptibility of the isolates to antibiotics, presence of the Cj0299 gene encoding a β-lactamase and β-lactamase production (nitrocefin hydrolysis) were also determined.

Results: Amoxicillin-resistant Campylobacter were isolated from Flock 1 before and during treatment, but Campylobacter were not detected afterwards. Flock 2 was colonized by amoxicillin-susceptible strains throughout sampling. No amoxicillin-resistant isolates arose during or after treatment. Flock 3 contained amoxicillin-susceptible and -resistant types pre-treatment. Resistant isolates were detected during treatment, while antibiotic-susceptible isolates re-emerged at 3 weeks post-treatment. All Campylobacter isolates from Flock 4 were amoxicillin resistant, irrespective of sampling time. All but one of the 82 amoxicillin-resistant (MICs 16 to >128 mg/L) Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli tested for the presence of Cj0299 carried the gene and all of these produced β-lactamase. Co-amoxiclav remained active against amoxicillin-resistant isolates.

Conclusions: Amoxicillin therapy had little effect on the numbers of amoxicillin-resistant commensal Campylobacter except for one flock where amoxicillin-resistant Campylobacter temporarily dominated. Amoxicillin therapy did not select amoxicillin-resistant isolates from a previous susceptible strain. Co-amoxiclav remained active against amoxicillin-resistant isolates.

Keywords: strain diversity , antibiotic resistance

{dagger} Present address: Health Protection Agency, Yorkshire and the Humber, Leeds, UK.


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