Abstract

Food animals like cattle and poultry are often regarded as reservoirs for Campylobacter infections in human. This study investigated the occurrence of Campylobacter coli in cattle and local chickens and their antibiotic susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. A total of 250 samples comprising 100 rectal swabs, 100 gall bladder contents from cattle and 50 cloacal swabs from local chickens that were apparently healthy, were subjected to standard microbiological identification and antibiotic susceptibility tests. Overall, 51 (20.4%) C. coli were isolated including 34/100 (34%) from rectal swabs, 12/100 (12%) from gall bladders and 5/50 (10%) from the cloaca. All the isolated C. coli displayed multiple antibiotic resistances to between 4 and 10 of the antibiotics tested showing up to 40 different resistance patterns. The cattle C. coli displayed a high frequency of resistance to erythromycin and ciprofloxacin, while all the chicken isolates were resistant to erythromycin, the drug of choice for the treatment of the Campylobacter infections in Nigeria. This investigation carried out in apparently healthy animals identified cattle and local chickens as potential reservoir hosts for C. coli infection in the study area. 

Key words: Campylobacter coli, local chickens, multiple antibiotic resistance, Ibadan.