Antimicrobial susceptibility of campylobacter cuniculorum isolated from rabbits reared in intensive and rural farms

The present study aimed to investigate the antimicrobial susceptibility in Campylobacter cuniculorum of 29 isolates on non-selective media from rabbits reared in 18 intensive and 11 rural farms not epidemiologically correlated. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 8 antimicrobial agents was determined using the agar dilution method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI), modified, for what concern the supplements in the base medium and incubation conditions, for C. cuniculorum isolates. The isolates obtained from rural farming resulted susceptible to all the antimicrobial agents tested, with the exception of one isolate resistant to nalidixic acid. All the isolates obtained from intensively farmed rabbits were sensitive to chloramphenicol and ampicillin; 16 isolates were resistant to tetracycline; 15 to nalidixic acid and erythromycin, 13 and 10 isolates to, ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin respectively and only 1 to gentamicin. The resistance of several isolates to macrolides and fluoroquinolones, which represent the drugs of choice in treatment of human campylobacteriosis, could pose a risk to human health if a pathogenic role of C. cuniculorum was demonstrated.