Molecular Detection of Virulence-Associated Markers in and Isolates From Water, Cattle, and Chicken Faecal Samples From Kajiado County, Kenya.

is a zoonotic foodborne pathogen that is often linked with gastroenteritis and other extraintestinal infections in humans. This study is aimed at determining the genetic determinants of virulence-encoding genes responsible for flagellin motility protein A (), adhesion to fibronectin F (), invasion antigen B () and cytolethal distending toxin (cdt) A () in species. A total of 29 isolates (16 from cattle, 9 from chicken, and 4 from water samples) and 74 isolates (38 from cattle, 30 from chicken, and 6 from water samples) described in an earlier study in Kajiado County, Kenya, were examined for the occurrence of virulence-associated genes using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and amplicon sequencing. The correlations among virulence genes were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient () method. Among the 103 strains screened, 89 were found to harbour a single or multiple virulence gene(s), giving an overall prevalence of 86.4%. strains had the highest prevalence of multivirulence at 64.9% (48/74), compared to . (58.6%, 17/29). The and genes were the most common virulence genes detected in . (81.1% [60/74] and 62.2% [46/74], respectively) and in (each at 62.1%; 18/29). isolates from chicken harboured the most virulence-encoding genes. strains from chicken and cattle harboured the highest proportions of the and genes, respectively. All the strains from water samples harboured the and genes. The results obtained further revealed a significant positive correlation between and ( = 0.733). and strains from cattle, chicken, and water harbour virulence markers responsible for motility/colonization, invasion, adherence, and toxin production, evoking their important role in campylobacteriosis development among humans and livestock. The identification of cattle, chicken, and water samples as reservoirs of virulent spp. highlights the possible risk to human health. These data on some virulence genes of will assist food safety and public health officials in formulating policy statements.