Antimicrobial susceptibilities of various Arcobacter species

Aim: To determine the antimicrobial susceptibilities of various Arcobacter strains isolated from domestic geese, which have great potential for the transmission of arcobacters to humans and animals by contamination of water sources. Materials and methods: A total of 16 Arcobacter strains including A. cryaerophilus (7), A. skirrowii (7), and A. butzleri (2) were examined for their susceptibilities to 20 antibiotics using a disk-diffusion method. Results: All Arcobacter isolates tested were resistant to cloxacillin, cefazolin, optochin, vancomycin, and fusidic acid, and most were susceptible to oxytetracycline, chloramphenicol (except for A. butzleri), nitrofurantoin, amikacin, enrofloxacin, ofloxacin, erythromycin, ampicillin sulbactam, and amoxicillin (except for A. butzleri). All A. skirrowii and most A. cryaerophilus isolates were susceptible to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid. All 3 A. butzleri strains tested were resistant to cephalothin, while most A. skirrowii strains and 3 strains of A. cryaerophilus were susceptible to this antibiotic. Both isolates of A. butzleri were susceptible to rifampicin. Variable results were obtained for the other antibiotics used in this study. Conclusion: The incidence of antibiotic susceptibility in arcobacters varied among species, which suggests that suitable antibiotic(s) should be selected for the treatment of infectious disease(s) and/or when developing selective media for the isolation of a wide range of Arcobacter species.