Virulence Genes Prevalence and Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus-PCR Profiles of Goose-Derived Campylobacter jejuni Isolates

Campylobacter jejuni is a causative agent of gastroenteritis in humans worldwide, and wild and domestic poultry carry of this bacterium in their gastrointestinal tract. Molecular studies to determine the pathogenicity, origin, and epidemiological relationships among C. jejuni isolates from poultry such as chicken, turkey, and goose consumed as human food are important for public health and infection control. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of virulence genes and Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC-PCR) based genotyping of C. jejuni isolates obtained from goose cloacal swab samples. For this purpose, PCR analysis of flaA, racR, dnaJ, pldA, cadF, cdtC, ciaB, cdtB, cdtA, virB11, and wlaN virulence genes and ERIC-PCR analysis of 50 C. jejuni isolates were performed. The emerged genetic profiles and antimicrobial resistance genes regarding the isolates were interpreted with the existing multi-drug resistance (MDR) findings. Virulence gene positivity was detected as 88%, 84%, 82%, 82%, 80%, 80%, 72%, 30%, and 18% for flaA, racR, dnaJ, pldA, cadF, cdtC, ciaB, cdtB, and cdtA, respectively. VirB11 and wlaN genes were not detected among the C. jejuni isolates. Virulence genes-based genotyping revealed that the C. jejuni isolates exhibited 22 profiles (A–V). As a result of ERIC-PCR analysis, the C. jejuni isolates showed heterogeneous distribution, exhibiting 14 different ERIC-PCR profiles (Cluster I [Cl-I]–Cluster XIV [Cl-XIV]). The MDR positivity was detected in 7 (14%) of the C. jejuni isolates. Tetracycline and ciprofloxacin were the antibiotics most frequently included in the MDR profiles. There was no clear correlation between ERIC-PCR profiles, virulence gene profiles, and MDR profiles. However, isolates with triple-MDR resistant to ampicillin, tetracycline, and ciprofloxacin showed significant heterogeneity in both ERIC-PCR profile and virulence gene-based genetic profile, all of which were positive for ciaB and flaA genes. These results indicate that carriage of the C. jejuni isolates with high gene prevalence and MDR profiles by geese may pose a risk for Campylobacter infections in humans.