Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli over time in Thailand under a One Health approach: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Campylobacter spp. are major food-borne zoonotic pathogens impacting food safety worldwide. Thailand is one of the countries facing with a significant burden of Campylobacter infections and is recognized as a hotspot of AMR. Our study applied a systematic review and meta-analysis, using a One Health perspective, to investigate the prevalence and AMR of Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) and Campylobacter coli (C. coli) over time in Thailand, from 1985 to 2023. Based on the PRISMA guidelines, a literature search using PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar to identify the articles reporting prevalence, sequence types (STs), antimicrobial susceptibility, and resistance genes of Campylobacter spp. in humans, animals, food, and environmental samples was performed. Eighty-one articles were retrieved for systematic review, with 33 reporting Campylobacter spp. prevalence and 20 containing AMR data collected for meta-analysis. The highest prevalence of C. jejuni was found in chickens (43.6 %) and chicken products (31.4 %), followed by ducks (16.7 %), the general human population with diarrhea (15.9 %), children with diarrhea (10.7 %). C. coli was also prevalent in chickens (12.6 %) and chicken products (10.4 %). C. jejuni prevalence decreased by 14.8 % among children with diarrhea (p = 0.006), but increased by 16.7 % in chicken products (p = 0.007). Sixty-two STs were identified, with ST 574, ST 1075, ST 51 being the most prevalent STs recorded. Five STs, including ST 50, ST 51, ST 354, ST 464, and ST 574, were reported in both humans and chickens. The AMR levels were highest against quinolones, ranging 75.4 %–94.8 % in human-related categories and 71.6 %–88.7 % in chicken-related categories. Notably, ciprofloxacin-resistant and nalidixic acid-resistant C. jejuni strains collected from chickens increased by 11.9 % (p = 0.004) and 16.1 % (p = 0.027), respectively. Thirteen resistance genes/mutations were reported, with the phenotypic resistance linked to gyrA mutations and tet(O) genes. The high prevalence and increasing trend of AMR in C. jejuni and C. coli underscore the critical need for One Health surveillance to address the rising AMR challenge posed by these pathogens in Thailand.