Rahem Khoshbakht - Department of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Amol University of Special Modern Technologies, Amol, Iran
Mohammad Tabatabaei - Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Saeid Hoseinzadeh - Department of Food Hygiene, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Mojtaba Raeisi - Department of Public Health, School of Health, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran
Hesamaddin Shirzad Aski - Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
Enayat Berizi - Department of Food Hygiene, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Althoughpoultry meat is considered as the main source for human Campylobacter infections,there is limited information about non-poultry sources. The present study was aimed to investigate the prevalence and the antibiotic resistance of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. in fecal samples of the cattle and sheep in Shiraz, Iran. A total of ۳۰۲fecal samples were obtained from clinically healthy, slaughtered cattle and sheep from Shiraz slaughterhouse. The animals were clinically healthy before being slaughtered. The samples were cultured according to the specific cultivation method under thermophilic conditions. The susceptibility of Campylobacter isolates were determined for ۱۳ antimicrobial agents. All enriched samples and cultured isolates were targeted for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of ۱۶S rRNA and multiplex PCR for determining their species. Among ۳۰۲ fecal samples, ۶۵ (۲۱.۵%) and ۲۰۵ (۶۷.۸%) samples were positive for the presence of Campylobacter species with the cultivation and PCR techniques, respectively. All ۶۵ distinct isolates were susceptible to neomycin and colistin and the isolates showed high resistance to cephalotin (۸۳.۰%) and ciprofloxacin (۶۷.۷%). After the multiplex PCR, ۷۸.۵% of total positive samples showed the simultaneous presence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. In conclusion, the results emphasized that non-poultry farms are important as a possible source of Campylobacter infections.

Antibiotic resistance, Cattle, PCR, Sheep, Thermophilic Campylobacter spp