Occurrence and Antibiotic Resistance of Arcobacter Species Isolates from Poultry in Tunisia

The objectives of this study were i) to isolate  Arcobacter  species ( Arcobacter butzleri and Arcobacter cryaerophilus )by cultural method from different species of raw poultry meat, ii) to verify the isolates by multiplex PCR assay and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), iii) and to detect the antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates.Two hundred fifty poultry product samples (149 chicken and 101 turkey)were collected from various supermarkets at Sfax government.The samples purchased consisted of breasts, wings, legs and neck skins.The overall isolation frequency of Arcobacter spp was (10.4%).The highest prevalence of Arcobacter spp. was found in chicken meat (13.42%)followed by turkey meat (5.49%). All the acquired isolates were subject to detailed confirmation with subsequent species classification using multiplex PCR and MALDI-TOF MS. Arcobacter butzleri was the most common positive in 22 samples (84.61%),followed by Arcobacter cryaerophilus positive in 4 samples (15.38%).Regarding the seasonal distribution of Arcobacter from poultry the bacterium was commonly isolated during all season. The contamination level of Arcobacter was found to be (30.76%),(23.07%),(19.23%)and (26.92%)in summer, spring, autumn and winter respectively.Susceptibilities of Arcobacter isolates were determined for 6 antimicrobial drugs using the disk diffusion method. Most of the Arcobacter butzleri isolates (n=24) were resistant to erythromycin (100%), tetracycline (100%), ciprofloxacin (95%), ampicillin (90%). All tested Arcobacter cryaerophilis strains (n= 4) were susceptible to ampicillin, gentamicin and amoxiclav antibiotics. The incidence of Multidrug resistace (MDR) was observed in (83%) of the Arcobacter spp isolates.Our study demonstrating that Arcobacter spp. can be detected in a Tunisian poultry and because of their multiresistance these species may constitute a public health problem.