New approach reduces antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter in poultry: study

New research from a multi-institute scientific team in Canada showcases a synergistic antimicrobial mechanism using nanoparticles to reduce Campylobacter in poultry. Alternative antimicrobial strategies like this, say the authors, have the potential to reduce the prevalence of this microbe in agri-foods and avoid the emergence of antibiotic resistance. In the study, researchers utilized a synergistic antimicrobial approach, which combines several antimicrobials of different mechanistic actions to reduce the dosage of individual antimicrobials and expand the spectrum of antimicrobial activity. They investigated two nanoparticles — carvacrol and zinc oxide — and found that the combination of the two resulted in significantly enhanced antimicrobial efficacy against Campylobacter jejuni in poultry samples.