Frequency of antibiotic resistance and presence of virulence genes in Campylobacter jejuni isolated from livestock and poultry meat supplied in Shahrekord

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: justify; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'B Lotus'; mso-bidi-language: FA;">Campylobacteriosis is a common gastrointestinal disease that poses a significant risk to human health. This study aimed to investigate the contamination rate, the presence of virulence genes, and antibiotic resistance of <em>Campylobacter jejuni</em> isolates from meat and poultry sold in Shahrekord city. 272 meat and poultry samples were randomly collected from markets in Shahrekord. The detection of <em>C. jejuni</em> was exploited using standard techniques. Multiplex PCR was used to identify the frequency of virulence genes. The results revealed an average contamination rate of <em>C. jejuni</em> in the samples of 53.68%. Specifically, 43 (63.2%) packaged chicken meat samples, 48 (70.6%) unpackaged chicken meat samples, 34 (34%) unpackaged fresh meat samples, and 23 (63.9%) minced meat samples were found to be contaminated with <em>C. jejuni</em>. The most common virulence gene in minced meat was <em>flaA</em> (65.2%), while the least common was <em>cadF</em> (13%). Antibiotic resistance testing showed the highest resistance to ciprofloxacin (97.94%) and the lowest resistance to imipenem (58.9%). These findings indicate that all types of meat can serve as reservoirs for <em>C. jejuni</em>, and adherence to hygiene standards in slaughterhouses and supply centers can play a crucial role in reducing or eliminating contamination.</span>