Molecular Detection, Phenotypic and Genotypic Characters of The Antimicrobial Resistance and Virulenece Factors of Campylobacter Jejuni and Campylobacter Coli Isolated from Poultry Meat

oultry meat is recognized as a potential reservoir of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli. This study was done to assess antibiotic resistance and virulence characteristics of C. jejuni and C. coli isolated from raw poultry meat. Raw poultry meat samples were collected. C. jejuni and C. coli were isolated after microbial examination. Disk diffusion was applied to apprise antibiotic resistance. Polymerase Chain Reaction was employed to determine the virulence and antibiotic resistance gene distribution. Raw poultry meat samples contamination rate with Campylobacter spp. was 19% (76 out of 400 samples). The highest contamination rate was observed amongst the raw duck meat samples (37.50%). Forty-three (56.57%) and twenty (26.31%) out of 76 Campylobacter spp. were recognized as C. jejuni and C. coli, respectively. C. jejuni and C. coli isolates harbored the uppermost rates of resistance toward tetracycline (67.44% and 50%), gentamicin (60.46% and 50%), ampicillin (48.89% and 40%), and erythromycin (48.89% and 35%), respectively. The prevalence of multidrug-resistant C. jejuni and C. coli was 81.39% and 75%, respectively. C. jejuni and C. coli bacteria harbored tetO (23.48% and 45%), cmeB (44.18% and 45%), and blaOXA (44.18% and 35%) antibiotic resistance genes, respectively. All isolates harbored fla and ciaB. Among the C. jejuni isolates, cadF (67.44%), racC (46.51%), and cdtB (46.51%) and amongst the C. coli isolates, pldA (50%), cdtA (35%), racC (30%), and cadF (30%) were major virulence factors. The role of raw poultry meat, particularly duck and goose, as antibiotic-resistant and virulent Campylobacter spp. reservoirs were confirmed.