EN
Campylobacters are the most common bacterial cause of food-borne gastrointestinal infections in humans in developed countries. Macrolides and fluoroquinolones (FQ) are regarded as drugs of choice for the treatment of campylobacteriosis. Moreover, fluoroquinolones such as ciprofloxacin have been used for the first-line treatment of bacterial gastroenteritis in the absence of confirmed microbiological diagnosis. The fluoroquinolone resistance is mainly caused by a single step point mutation in the gyrase gyrA gene. The major mechanism conferring the resistance to macrolides consists of an alternation of the target site in domain V of the 23S ribosomal RNA gene. During 2004-2008 European Union Member States provided much information to EFSA on the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter isolated from animals and food. Different resistance levels to antimicrobials was found among the isolates tested. For some antimicrobials, large differences in the occurrence of resistance were observed between the Member States. Some of them reported a high percentage of Campylobacter isolates recovered from poultry, pigs and cattle, as well as from meat resistant to fluoroquinolones. This suggests that due to the use of antimicrobial agents, particularly FQ, in food-producing animals, Campylobacter spp. developed resistance. Resistant strains could be transferred from animals to man by the food chain and constitute a hazard for public health; not all data, however, support this view. Some authors suggest that although some antibiotics are used in both animals and humans, most of the resistance problems in humans have arisen from human medicine. At any rate, a rational and prudent use of antibiotics in both areas is strongly recommended.