The antibacterial effects of a combination of Coptidis rhizoma and Galla rhois extracts (CGE) were evaluated in piglets. The minimum bactericidal concentration of CGE was 2.0 mg/mL. Thirty 5-week-old piglets were challenged with Campylobacter (C.) coli after allocation to three different groups, a control and two treatment groups fed with CGE at 2.0 or 4.0 g/kg feed for 7 days. On day 7, C. coli in the feces of the CGE-treated groups were significantly lower than in the control (p 0.01). These results suggest that CGE can be used to control C. coli in piglets.

Twenty-four isolates representing 6 species of Campylobacter were screened for plasmids. A large plasmid with an approximate molecular weight of 38 Mdal was detected in 5 C jejuni isolates originally recovered from diarrheic human beings, in one isolate of C coli recovered from diarrheic pigs, and in 1 isolate of C sputorum ssp mucosalis and 2 isolates of C hyointestinalis recovered from pigs with proliferative enteritis. One isolate of C coli and 1 isolate of C hyointestinalis contained an additional smaller plasmid with an approximate molecular weight of 1.6 Mdal; this plasmid was partially mapped by restriction endonuclease digestion. Fifteen Campylobacter isolates contained no detectable plasmids: 2 C coli, 2 C sputorum ssp mucosalis, 2 C fecalis, 1 C fetus ssp fetus, and 8 C hyointestinalis isolates. In summary, 37.5% of the Campylobacter isolates contained a 38-Mdal plasmid, with 8% having both 38 Mdal and 1.6-Mdal plasmids; 62.5% contained no detectable plasmids.

Campylobacter coli is the more common zoonotic pathogen and poultry are the foremost blamed source of contamination. Therefore, this study tested 50 chicken pooled samples from apparently healthy and diseased broilers suffered from diarrhea and mortality from various broiler farms in the governorate of Kafr El-Sheikh which revealed 11 Campylobacter coli isolates with a percentage of 22%. The antimicrobial resistance profile showed high resistance to ampicillin and streptomycin with a percentage of 100% followed by 90.9% for kanamycin and oxytetracycline then cefotaxime with a percentage of 72.7% while, susceptibility was observed for amikacin, tobramycin and ciprofloxacin with the percentage of 100%, 72.7%, and 54.5%, respectively. Genotypically testing the virulence and antibiotic resistance genes; Virulence genes showed the highest percentage was 100% for ciaB, flaA, and cdtC followed by virB11 (n=10/11) 90.9% while, dnaJ and pldA were the lowest detection (9.1%) and (18.2%), respectively. Furthermore, the antibiotic resistance genes; tetO and cmeB were harbored in all isolates. In conclusion, C. coli isolates present in the investigated poultry has a multi-drug resistance appearance in combination with a high prevalence of virulence genes which may cause public health problems.

Objective: To evaluate the genetic relatedness and antibiotic sensitivity profiles of Campylobacter coli isolates from sows and piglets housed in an integrated swine production facility. Sample Population: Ninety-nine isolates of Campylobacter coli were collected from 3 sows (Yorkshire-Landrace) and 18 piglets (Yorkshire-Landrace X Duroc or Hampshire) housed in a common farrowing barn. Procedure: When piglets were weaned (21 day of age) fecal samples were collected for the sows and rectal samples were collected from the piglets. Isolation of Campylobacter coli was performed using an enrichment broth and restrictive media under microaerophilic conditions. Results: The Campylobacter coli isolates segregated into 20 ribogroups and exhibited 32 antibiotic susceptibility profiles. The Ribogroup (224-373-S-5) contained 35 isolates from eleven animals. Thirty-eight percent of the animals exhibited a single ribogroup, while 10% of the animals exhibited four ribogroups. No discernible pattern of ribogroup relatedness was observed among the sows and piglets or among littermates. Conclusion: The data suggests a high level of diversity in both ribotypic patterns and antibiotic sensitivity profiles among the Campylobacter coli isolated from related pigs housed in a single facility. Further, no evidence was found for a direct transfer of specific Campylobacter coli ribotypes from a sow to her piglets.