Antimicrobial resistance profile of <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> from sheep and poultry: Insights from Kashmir, India

Wali, Hudza; Khan, Ali; ud din, Faheem; Qureshi, Sabia; Hassan, Mir Nadeem; Kashoo, Zahid A; Dar, Pervaiz; Banday, Muddasir S; Banday, Fawaz; Hussain, Md. Isfaqul; Nabi, Mansoor; Badroo, Gulzar; Farooq, Shaheen; Gulzar, Maliha; Mehraj, Junaid; Hafiz, Mahrukh; Afzal, Kifayat

doi:10.2754/avb202695030293

Acta Veterinaria > Archive > 2026, Vol. 95 > Issue 3 > Antimicrobial resistance profile of…

Acta Vet. Brno 2026, 95: 293-298

https://doi.org/10.2754/avb202695030293

Antimicrobial resistance profile of Campylobacter jejuni from sheep and poultry: Insights from Kashmir, India

Hudza Wali¹, Ali Khan², Faheem ud din³, Sabia Qureshi³, Mir Nadeem Hassan³, Zahid A Kashoo³, Pervaiz Dar³, Muddasir S Banday⁴, Fawaz Banday⁵, Md. Isfaqul Hussain³, Mansoor Nabi³, Gulzar Badroo³, Shaheen Farooq³, Maliha Gulzar³, Junaid Mehraj³, Mahrukh Hafiz³, Kifayat Afzal³

¹University of Kashmir, Department of Clinical Biochemistry, India
²University of Nebraska Medical Center, Centre of Public Health, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
³Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry, Division of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology, Bacteriology Laboratory, Shuhama (Aulesteng), India
⁴Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Soura, Srinagar, India
⁵University of Kashmir, Government Medical College, Srinagar, India

Received May 20, 2026
Accepted September 7, 2026

Campylobacter jejuni is a leading cause of foodborne gastrointestinal infections in humans globally. This study investigates the antimicrobial resistance profile of C. jejuni isolates from sheep and poultry. A total of 50 C. jejuni isolates previously isolated from poultry cloacal swabs and sheep rectal swabs/abortion samples were screened for antimicrobial resistance against fluoroquinolones (gyrA gene), β-lactams (blaOXA-61 gene), and tetracyclines (tet[O] gene). A total of 20% isolates carried the gyrA gene with Thr-86-Ile mutation in the QRDR, 22% of the isolates exhibited β-lactam resistance (blaOXA-61), and 14% carried the tet(O) gene for tetracycline resistance. The OR625189 and OR625190 sequences corresponding to gyrA and mutant gyrA gene were deposited in GenBank. No statistically significant differences in resistance gene distribution were observed between poultry and sheep isolates, suggesting shared ecological drivers across host species. Phylogenetic comparisons revealed a high degree of similarity between C. jejuni isolates from Kashmir, India and those from Spain and Türkiye, highlighting the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance. These findings reinforce the urgent need for strengthened surveillance, prudent antibiotic use in animal husbandry, and integrated One Health strategies to mitigate the spread of resistant Campylobacter strains safeguarding both animal and human health.