Campylobacter spp. at Different Stages of the Poultry Slaughtering Line in Algeria: Evaluation of Direct and Indirect Modified ISO 10272:2017 Detection Methods and Characterization of the Isolates.

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of direct and indirect modified ISO 10272-1:2017 methods for detecting Campylobacter spp. in 10 sites of a poultry slaughterhouse and investigate the relationship between poultry intestinal carriage and carcasses, as well as surfaces contamination during different slaughter steps (scalding, defeathering, evisceration, and rinsing). Antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates were also determined against 12 antibiotics. A total of 165 intestinal (feces and ceca) and non-intestinal (neck skins and surfaces) samples were collected from 10 different sampling sites before, during, and after the slaughtering of six flocks of broiler chickens. After the isolation and phenotypic identification of the isolates, an antibiotic susceptibility study was performed using the agar diffusion method. Thermotolerant bacteria of the genus Campylobacter (TC) were isolated with a prevalence of 47.04% (127/270), and 39.05% (82/210) of the TC isolates were detected in non-intestinal samples. Moreover, 76.19% (80/105) of these microorganisms were detected by a direct isolation method for a sensitivity of 97.56%, while only 1.90% (2/105) of the samples contained TC by an indirect isolation method for a sensitivity of 2.44%. The samples of intestinal origin were positive for TC with a rate of 75.00% (45/60). C. jejuni (76.38%; 97/127) was the most isolated bacterial species. Furthermore, 98.43% (125/127) of the TC isolates were multidrug-resistant and 69.29% (88/127) showed simultaneous resistance to ciprofloxacin and erythromycin. Direct isolation seems to be the best method for the detection of C. spp. A serious public health problem of multidrug-resistant C. spp. isolates with critical resistance profiles can be transmitted to broiler carcasses before, during, and after the evisceration step.

Research and molecular characteristic of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolated from sheep carcasses.

Domestic ruminants are regarded as the major reservoir of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) closely related to human infection. A total of 363 ovine carcasses were swabbed in an Algiers city slaughterhouse for research on STEC. First of all, screening of the STECs was carried out by a multiplex PCR searching for the genes coding for the virulence factors stx1 , stx2 and eae. This step was followed by STEC isolation and serotyping. The presence of stx+ /stx+ eae+ genes was shown in 116 sheep carcasses (31·95%). From the 116 positive samples, 20 bacterial strains (17·24%) were isolated. Nineteen strains belonged to the species E. coli (STEC), and 1 belonged to Citrobacter braakii (eae+ stx1 + ). During this study, the presence of potentially pathogenic STEC for humans on the surface of sheep carcasses was confirmed. Corrective measures should be considered at the slaughterhouse level to avoid outbreaks of STEC in Algeria. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: PCR screening revealed the significant presence of the genetic markers of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) (stx+ /stx+ eae+ ) on the surfaces of sheep carcasses. Citrobacter braakii (stx1 + eae+ ) was isolated for the first time in this study. The risk of foodborne diseases due to STEC must be taken into account in Algeria. To prevent the emergence of epidemic outbreaks among children and older by people, preventive measures should be taken.

Antimicrobial resistance of 100 Salmonella strains isolated from Gallus gallus in 4 wilayas of Algeria.

This study aims at identifying serotypes and surveying the antimicrobial resistance and plasmid support of resistance of 100 Salmonella strains, which were isolated from 96 out of 506 (18.97%) samples taken from different production farms in the wilayas (i.e., Algerian states) of Tizi-Ouzou, Bouira, Bejaïa, and Boumerdes in 2007. The highest percentage of Salmonella (48%) was recorded in Bouira. Thirteen serotypes were identified among the 100 Salmonella strains used in this study. The most prevalent ones were Salmonella Heidelberg (24%), Salmonella Enteritidis (20%), Salmonella Albany (16%), and Salmonella Typhimurium (9%). The strains showed resistance to 8 of the 34 antibiotics tested. Fifty-three percent of strains were resistant to at least one antibiotic, among which 15.09% were multiresistant. The most frequently observed resistance was to quinolones (58.49%), with a contribution of 94.74% of Salmonella Heidelberg resistant strains. The plasmid transfer performed on 53 strains showed that only 11 exhibited one or more markers of resistance, the most frequent being ampicillin, followed by tetracycline, then cotrimoxazole, sulphonamides, and kanamycin, in that order. The tetracycline characteristics were present in 72.72% of transconjugants, those of the ß-lactams and sulphonamides in 27.27% each and those of the aminosides in 9.09%. The incompatibility groups of plasmids belong to the F1me and Com1 classes, and the molecular weight of the plasmid DNA was greater than 100 kb. The phenotypic and genotypic results indicate a clonal dissemination in the Gallus gallus species in this particular study; this phenomenon could generate resistant bacteria and transferable genes of resistance to humans.