Occurrence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Campylobacter Species from Small Ruminants in Gwagwalada Area Council of Federal Capital Territory–Nigeria: A potential Zoonosis

Martha Echioda-Ogbole*, James Agbo Ameh, Samuel Mailafia, Olabode Hamza Kazeem Olatunde, Bridget Maria Jessica Adah, Onigbanjo Hakeem, Ifeanyi Cajetan Cashmir and Kashim Amami

Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja, Nigeria.

Editor | Muhammad Abubakar, National Veterinary Laboratories, Park Road, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Received | August 04, 2025; Accepted | October 20, 2025; Published | December 18, 2025

*Correspondence | Martha Echioda-Ogbole, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja, Nigeria; Email: [email protected]

Citation | Echioda-Ogbole, M., J.A. Ameh, S. Mailafia, O.H.K. Olatunde, B.M.J. Adah, O. Hakeem, I.C. Cashmir and K. Amami. 2025. Occurrence of antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter species from small ruminants in Gwagwalada area council of federal capital territory, Nigeria: A potential zoonosis. Veterinary Sciences: Research and Reviews, 11(2): 246-251.

DOI | https://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.vsrr/2025/11.2.246.251

Keywords | Campylobacter species, Sheep, Goats, Antimicrobial resistance, Nigeria

Copyright: 2025 by the authors. Licensee ResearchersLinks Ltd, England, UK.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Introduction

Within the family Campylobacteraceae, the genus Campylobacter is a curved slender-shaped, micro-aerophilic Gram-negative bacteria found in the alimentary and reproductive tracts of animals and humans. There are 39 species and 16 subspecies of the genus Campylobacter, only few are pathogenic and clinically significant based on their ability to grow between 42 to 45oC temperature (Lynch, 2022). Campylobacter species are emerging zoonotic bacteria pathogens incriminated in several cases of foodborne infections, with an estimated 96 million cases of foodborne illness annually (Choudhary et al., 2024). Foodborne pathogens, such as Campylobacter, pose a significant public health concern worldwide, causing illnesses ranging from mild gastrointestinal discomfort to severe disease and death (Asmat and Khan, 2020). Substantial economic considerations are attached to the global burden of Campylobacteriosis, (Kaakoush et al., 2015).

Ruminants and chickens are the major food-animals in Nigeria (Echioda-Ogbole et al., 2025). These food-animals have been reported to be the major cause of bacterial foodborne illness (Del Collo et al., 2017). Studies by Wagenaar et al. (2023) reported sheep as major reservoirs of diverse Campylobacter species, they shed the organism in their feaces into the environment, thus contaminating the environment. Campylobacter can be transmitted mainly though the fecal-oral route (Hansson et al., 2018), and through direct contacts between humans and colonized animals (Kaakoush et al., 2015; Westermark, 2016). The close contact between humans and domestic animals facilitates the zoonotic transmission of various pathogens including Campylobacter (Acke, 2018).

Campylobacter fetus subsp venerealis (cfv) and C. fetus subsp fetus (cff) are the major veterinary pathogens, associated with reproductive issues such as abortion, stillbirth, and infertility in ruminants (Wheelhouse et al., 2018), adenomitis in swine, gastroenteritis and abortion in dogs (Adak et al., 2005). The main sources of human Campylobacter infections have been reported to be undercooked meat, especially chicken flesh, caused by human enteric Campylobacter species such as C. coli, C. jejuni , C. jejuni subsp jejuni (Cjj), C. jejuni subsp doyley (Cjd) and C.fetus (Sibanda et al., 2018). C. jejuni is the most pathogenic Campylobacter specie for humans (Ugarte‐Ruiz et al., 2016). Campylobacteriosis usually results in gastrointestinal symptoms such as fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and acute diarrhea, which may be bloody (Allos et al., 2011). The illness typically goes away in a week, severe cases can result in extra-gastrointestinal complications like reactive arthritis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that affects the nervous system (Scallan et al 2015), sequelae and Miller-Fisher syndrome (Skarp et al., 2016).

Diagnosis of campylobacteriosis is based on cultural isolation and identification of the Gram negative, slender, spirally curved (0.2–0.8 μm × 0.5–5 μm) bacteria in stool/ fecal samples of infected individuals and animals using selective media such as Campy blood free selective agar, CHROMagar™ Campylobacter, modified charcoal cefoperazone deoxycholate agar, campy-Line agar (CLA), Blood Agar with Skirrow’s Supplement, and campy-cefex agar (CCA), as well as other culture media that can support the growth of the micro-aerophilic organism. Molecular techniques are better alternatives with high throughputs (Soto-Beltra etal., 2023). Currently, there are no other better treatment alternatives for campylobacteriosis other than antibiotics, however, Campylobacter isolates from both animals and humans are reported to becoming increasingly resistant to clinically important antimicrobials over the years (Shen et al., 2018). Antimicrobial resistance in animals could be attributed to both misuse and environmental exposure to antimicrobial agents. This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial profile of Campylobacter species in small ruminants in Gwagwalada area council of the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.

Materials and Methods

Study area

Gwagwalada is one of the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, alongside Kwali, Kuje, Bwari, Abaji and Abuja Municipal Area Council. Gwagwalada is on the geographical coordinates of 8 degrees 56’29 North 7 degrees 5’31 East, located approximately 40 kilometers Southwest of Abuja, the Capital City of Nigeria. Gwagwalada area council has several wards and villages including Gwagwalada town, Tungan-Maje, Anagada, Tipper garage, Zuba, Dobi and Iku.

Sample collection and handling

Sterile swab sticks were used to randomly collect rectal swabs from goats (n = 50) and sheep (n = 50) in three livestock markets namely Tungan-Maje, Anagada and Tipper garage within Gwagwalada area council of the Federal Capital territory from September to October 2025. All samples collected were placed in a flask with cold ice packs and immediately transported to the Department of Veterinary Microbiology laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja for processing.

Isolation and identification of campylobacter species

Campylobacter blood-free selective agar (Oxoid, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK) was prepared according to manufacturers’ instructions. The CCDA Selective Supplement SR155 (Oxoid, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK) was added for selective isolation of Campylobacter species. Each sample collected were analyzed individually by direct plating on the prepared plates of the Campylobacter blood-free selective agar supplemented with CCDA Selective Supplement SR155. All inoculated plates were placed in an anaerobic gas jar with the lid properly closed, and then transferred into the incubator for incubation at 42°C for 24-48 hrs. Following incubation, the plates were examined for typical colonies of Campylobacter which appeared as flat, smooth, glossy and grayish colonies as described by Teufel (2002). Distinct colonies were then sub cultured on prepared plates of Nutrient agar (Oxoid, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK), incubated at 37 oC for 18-24 hours. Afterwards, presumptive isolates were characterized phenotypically based on microscopic appearance of Gram negative, short, curved-slender rods with single polar flagellum. and standard biochemical characterizations as described by Cheesbrough (2016).

Antibiotic susceptibility testing

Antibiotic susceptibility testing of isolates was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and in accordance with the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI, 2018) guidelines. The antibiotics agents evaluated include: Chloramphenicol (30 μg), Amoxicillin (30 μg), Augmentin (10 μg), Gentamicin (30 μg), Septrin (30 μg), Pefloxacin (30 μg), Streptomycin (30 μg), Ciprofloxacin (30 μg), Ofloxacin (10 μg) and Sparfloxacin (10 μg). A transparent ruler was used to measure growth inhibition zone diameters, and the results were interpretated based on the breakpoints for each antimicrobial agents in accordance with the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines (CLSI, 2018).

Results

Of the hundred (100) samples analyzed in this study, 68 samples yielded growth for Campylobacter-on-Campylobacter blood-free selective agar supplemented with CCDA Selective Supplement SR155. Sixty-seven of the isolates were phenotypically confirmed Campylobacter species giving an overall prevalence of 67%. Thirty-eight (38 %) of the isolates were recovered from goats, while 29 were gotten from sheep (Table 1).

 

Table 1: Prevalence of Campylobacter isolates based on animal specie.

Animal species	Number of samples	Number positive	Percentage positive
Sheep	50	29	29
Goats	50	38	38
Total	100	67	67

 

Anagada had the highest number of isolation rate with 32 %, followed by Gwagwalada with 19 % while Tunga-mage had the least isolation rate of 17 % (Table 2).

 

Table 2: Prevalence of Campylobacter based on sampling location.

Location	Number of samples	Number positive	Percentage positive (%)
Anagada	60	31	31
Tungan-maje	20	17	17
Gwagwalada	20	19	19
Total	100	67	67

 

The result of the antibiotic susceptibility testing showed that the Campylobacter isolates in this study were only sensitive to Ofloxacin (100 %) and Ciprofloxacin (87 %) but completely resistant to Amoxicillin, Augmentin, Gentamicin and Streptomycin as shown in Figure 1.

 

 

Discussion

Previously known as pathogen of animals, the organism Campylobacter has gain interest in recent years due to its zoonotic importance as a human enteric pathogen, considered as one of the most common cause of bacteria foodborne illnesses globally. The high prevalence of Campylobacter species recorded in sheep and goats in this study underscore the significance of small ruminants as reservoirs of the organism and potential sources of Campylobacter to humans considering the close contact shared, which can facilitate the transmission and increase colonization by Campylobacter species (Chen et al., 2021). The 67 5% prevalence recorded in this study is higher than the 20.1 % and 34 % reported by Salihu et al. (2014) and a Mpalang et al. (2014), but similar to previous reports (Ngulukun et al., 2011; Lazou et al., 2014; Olabode et al., 2017), thus accentuating small ruminants as reservoirs of the zoonotic bacteria. The isolation rate of Campylobacter in this study differs in the three different locations, with Anagada having the highest prevalence of 31%. This is consistent with previous studies, which reported varying isolation rates in different locations, which could be attributed to variation in sample size and age of the animals sampled (Altekuese et al., 2016).

The antimicrobial susceptibility of Campylobacter from sheep and goats in this study indicates that ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin are the most effective drugs against isolates in this study. The high susceptibility to fluoroquinolone is noteworthy, which showed that the animals are not exposed to the agents. Fluoroquinolone is one of the antibiotic classes indicated for the treatment of Campylobacter infections, the antibiotic inhibits the bacteria DNA by targeting DNA gyrase enzyme and topoisomerase IV (Hooper and Jacoby, 2016). Isolates in this study were found to be highly resistant to most of the antimicrobial agents tested, and this could be attributed to direct exposure of the animals to the antimicrobial agents or indirectly acquired from the environment during grazing. Antibiotic resistance in Campylobacter has become a significant public health concern. Overuse of antibiotics either for treatment or prophylaxis in both human and veterinary medicine has contributed to the increase trend in antimicrobial resistance (Shen et al., 2018). Several reports have shown that Campylobacter species have the ability to survive and thrive in the presence of an antimicrobial agents which they were once susceptible to due to diverse mechanisms of resistance such as point mutations, efflux pumps and the acquisition of resistance genes through horizontal gene transfer. For instance, point mutations in target genes such as gyrA contribute to fluoroquinolone resistance and 23S rRNA confers macrolide resistance (Hooper and Jacoby, 2016). While efflux pumps permit the efflux of antibiotic agents from bacterial cells therefore reducing intracellular drug concentrations and preventing access of the drug to target sites thus leading to resistance (Gaurav et al., 2024). The coexistence between humans and small ruminants can also facilitate the transfer of resistance genes by mobile genetic elements such as plasmids and phages. The phenotypic resistance exhibited by the isolates in this study was not confirmed genotypically, as financial constraint could not permit molecular characterization of the isolates in this study.

Conclusion

This study reports high prevalence of Campylobacter species in small ruminants which underscore sheep and goats as reservoirs and potential source of Campylobacter to humans. The occurrence of antimicrobial resistant Campylobacter species in sheep and goats is of great public concerned considering the close contact that exist between humans and ruminants.

Acknowledgment

Authors are grateful to the staff of Veterinary Microbiology Laboratory, University of Abuja for their technical assistance during the course of the study.

Author’s Contribution

MEO: Conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis and writing of manuscript.

JAA, SM, OHKO: Supervision.

BMJ, OH, ICC: Methodology.

KA: Investigation.

Generative AI and AI-assisted technology statement

The authors declare that no Genrative AI was used in the creation of this manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared no conflict of interest.

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