A study has been conducted in broiler breeder flocks to assess the frequency of target bacteria, their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to obtain a comprehensive picture of AMR in poultry production. The study reviewed data from the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) and its monitoring of E…. Continue Reading Science & Research, antibiotic resistance, antimicrobial resistance, Campylobacter, E. coli, poultry, Salmonella Food Safety News
A study has been conducted in broiler breeder flocks to assess the frequency of target bacteria, their antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to obtain a comprehensive picture of AMR in poultry production.
The study reviewed data from the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS) and its monitoring of E. coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter. Researchers looked at the pathogens’ resistance to antimicrobials in broiler chickens at the farm level and in slaughter plants.
“This study suggests that broiler breeders carry foodborne bacteria resistant to antimicrobials used in human medicine, demonstrating their role in the maintenance of AMR in poultry and the need to adopt a harmonized sector-wide antimicrobial use (AMU) strategy,” according to researchers.
In 2014, in response to years of CIPARS’ observations and data from farmers, the Chicken Farmers of Canada implemented a strategy to reduce antimicrobial use.
According to the research published in PLOS, resistance genes can be transmitted from parents to their offspring, thus the study was conducted in broiler breeder flocks to assess the frequency of target bacteria. The research was also designed to provide a comprehensive picture of antimicrobial resistance in poultry.
Spent breeder flocks slaughtered between 2018 and 2021 were sampled and data from broiler flocks at farms and slaughter plants were assessed. Salmonella was most frequently detected in farm broiler chickens at 46 percent, while Campylobacter was most frequently detected in broiler breeders at 73 percent. In Campylobacter, high levels — 20 percent to 24 percent — of ciprofloxacin resistance were found across the three production stages, and was highest in farm broiler chickens at 24 percent.
E. coli is an indicator organism and showed low-level ceftriaxone resistance and occasional isolates that were non-susceptible to ciprofloxacin. Using the indicator, fully susceptible E. coli, broiler breeders had the highest frequency at 54 percent compared to farm at 36 percent and slaughtered at 35 percent of broiler chickens.
Salmonella broiler breeders had the highest resistance to most antimicrobials tested. Fully susceptible Salmonella was lowest in broiler breeders at 16 percent compared to farm at 42 percent and slaughtered at 42 percent of broiler chickens.
This study offers a national perspective of AMR in the broiler chicken food production continuum, according to the researchers. The data indicated the persistency of bacteria resistant to antimicrobials categorized by Health Canada’s VDD of very high importance (fluoroquinolones and third generation cephalosporins), with levels of resistance ranging from very low to high.
“The information from this study concerning the frequency of foodborne pathogens (Salmonella and Campylobacter), levels of MDR, and levels of resistance to WHO’s HPCIA, could be used for foodborne pathogen and the risk management of both vertically and horizontally transmitted AMR bacteria and resistance genes,” according to the research report.
Such approaches could include further enhancements of Salmonella vaccination programs for broiler breeders and foodborne pathogen reduction.
“Implementation of these risk mitigation steps in a harmonized manner across the food production to fork continuum complemented by ongoing foodborne pathogen, AMR, and AMU surveillance is essential in the containment of AMR in broiler chicken meat production and microbial safety of products available to consumers.
“More importantly, further analysis of potential AMU-AMR associations in breeders and then, AMU-AMR in broilers and molecular analysis of the isolates from broiler breeders and broilers — farm, slaughter plant — would provide a better understanding of the ecology of AMR in the broader broiler chicken sector and trace potential sources of MDR organisms,” researchers wrote.
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