Characterization and detection of tetO Gene in Campylobacter isolated from chicken sold at Kalerwe Market, Kampala City

Abstract

Campylobacter is one of the leading causes of bacterial foodborne infections in humans worldwide. Most cases of Campylobacteriosis are sporadic and self-limiting with no treatment required but, severe cases are treated using first line antibiotics such as macrolides, fluoroquinolones and Tetracycline. Antimicrobial agents are extensively used in both human and animal medicine. However, resistance to several antibiotics most notably tetracycline has been reported in these bacteria from both human and animal sources. This study was therefore aimed at characterizing Campylobacter isolated from chicken sold at Kalerwe market, Kampala city, Uganda, and determining the presence of tetO gene in the isolates. A total of 69 presumed Campylobacter isolates by colony morphology on MCCDA agar were confirmed to be genus Campylobacter and the species characterized using multiplex PCR followed by subsequent detection of tetO gene in the Campylobacter species using singleplex PCR. Out of the 69 suspected isolates, 51(73.9%, CI= 0.620- 0.831) were confirmed to belong to the genus Campylobacter, 27 (52.94%) were C. jejuni, 21(41.18%) were C. coli and 9 (17.65%) were mixed cultures of both C. jejuni and C. coli. This could possibly be due to poor sanitation in chicken cages and cross contamination of the chicken with equipment used like water and feeding troughs. tetO gene was detected in 42(82.4%) of the isolates. C. jejuni had the highest proportion of tetO gene (40.5%). The high prevalence of tetO resistance gene in Campylobacter species isolated from chicken sold in Kalerwe market, Kampala city, Uganda shows substantial resistance to tetracycline. This could be due to miss use of tetracycline in treatment of infections and also as a growth promoter. This calls for surveillance on antibiotic use and action plan to control antibiotic resistance.