Summer Buzz

Polyxeni Potter

Author affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Ciprofloxacin-Resistant Campylobacter spp. in Retail Chicken, Western Canada

Agnes Agunos

, David Léger, Brent P. Avery, E. Jane Parmley, Anne Deckert, Carolee A. Carson, and Lucie Dutil

Author affiliations: Public Health Agency of Canada, Guelph, Ontario, Canada (A. Agunos, D. Léger, B.P. Avery, E.J. Parmley, A. Deckert, C.A. Carson); Public Health Agency of Canada, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada (L. Dutil)

Abstract

During 2005–2010, the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance identified increased prevalence of ciprofloxacin (a fluoroquinolone) resistance among Campylobacter isolates from retail chicken in British Columbia (4%–17%) and Saskatchewan (6%–11%), Canada. Fluoroquinolones are critically important to human medicine and are not labeled for use in poultry in Canada.

Human campylobacteriosis, a notifiable disease in Canada, is the most common cause of bacterial enteric infections among persons in Canada; in 2005, the incidence rate of campylobacteriosis was 30.9 cases per 100,000 population (1). In chickens, Campylobacter spp. are not clinically relevant; however, the presence of these bacteria in poultry represents a potential threat to public health (2).
Ciprofloxacin, a fluoroquinolone antimicrobial drug, is indicated for the treatment of respiratory, urinary, skin, and bone/joint infections and gastroenteritis in adults (3). In 2008 in Canada, fluoroquinolones were the fourth most frequently dispensed class of antimicrobial drug (dispensed for oral use by retail pharmacists; www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cipars-picra/2008/4-eng.php#Hum0). A study investigating antimicrobial drug use and resistance in 2 health units in Ontario found that ciprofloxacin was the antimicrobial drug most frequently used to treat human campylobacteriosis (4). Fluoroquinolones are considered “critically” or “very” important to human medicine by the World Health Organization (5) and the Veterinary Drugs Directorate (VDD), Health Canada (6). The veterinary fluoroquinolones enrofloxacin and danofloxacin are VDD Category I antimicrobial drugs labeled for use in companion animals and beef cattle, but they are not labeled for use in poultry. The VDD has established a policy recommending against the extra-label use of Category I antimicrobial drugs in food-producing animals (7); however, Canada does not have legislation restricting this extra-label use.

The Study

The Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS), Public Health Agency of Canada, collects samples of fresh chicken, beef, and pork from retail outlets in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Québec, and Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island) on a routine basis and cultures them for select bacteria. Retail food samples best reflect the level of consumer exposure to drug-resistant foodborne bacteria. Methods used for sample collection, culture, and antimicrobial drug-susceptibility testing are described in the CIPARS annual reports (www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/cipars-picra/2008/6-eng.php#Ant).