Activity of antibiotics used in human medicine for Campylobacter jejuni isolated from farm animals and their environment in Lancashire, UK

A retrospective study of 96 Campylobacter jejuni isolated from farm animals and the environment showed that most were less susceptible than the NCTC t ype strain to nalidixic acid (MICs 4-32 mg/L), ciprofloxacin (MICs 1-2 mg/L ) and erythromycin (MICs 16-64 mg/L), but had similar susceptibility to tet racycline (MICs 4-8 mg/L) and kanamycin (MICs 4-8 mg/L). None had the high MICs of ciprofloxacin (>32 mg/L) or erythromycin (1024 mg/L) typically asso ciated with clinical resistance in this species. Some farms used antimicrob ial agents, but there was no obvious association between the use of agents and the susceptibility of the isolates.