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Research Project: Monitoring and Molecular Characterization of Antimicrobial Resistance in Foodborne Bacteria

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Title: Genetic characterization and plasmid replicon typing of ß-lactam resistant Escherichia coli from humans and companion animals in Egypt

Author
item RAMADAN, HAZEM - Mansoura University
item Jackson, Charlene
item Frye, Jonathan
item AHMED, MARWA - Mansoura University
item Hiott, Lari
item Barrett, John
item Woodley, Tiffanie

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/22/2018
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Limited therapeutic options due to antimicrobial resistance (AR) is a major threat to human and animal health worldwide. There is a paucity of information on ß-lactam resistant Esherichia coli isolated from companion animals in developing countries; therefore their zoonotic impact is unknown. This study aimed to determine the genetic and plasmid diversity among E. coli from humans and companion animals in Egypt. From four private pet clinics in Mansoura, Egypt, a total of 252 rectal swabs were collected from companion animals (133 dogs and 119 cats). Two hundred thirty-five mid-urine samples were collected from healthy people (n=100) who had contact with pets, and patients (n=135) admitted to the Internal Medicine Specialized Hospital, Mansoura University were enrolled in this study. E. coli isolates were recovered from 152 companion animals, and 113 humans, 39 were examined phenotypically for antibiotic resistance to 24 antimicrobials from eight different classes using minimum inhibition concentration, MIC. All E. coli from humans and pets exhibited resistance to ampicillin, cefazolin and ceftriaxone. Human isolates displayed significantly higher frequencies of resistance than pet isolates to aztreonam (97.4%), ceftazidime (71.8%), ampicillin/sulbactam (71.8%), cefepime (64.1%), ticarcillin/clavulanic (61.5%), and piperacillin/tazobactam (38.5%). PCR screening for ß-lactam and carbapenem resistance genes determined that all recovered isolates from both sources harbored blaCTX-M. Only two human isolates carried the specific amplicon for blaNDM. Plasmid replicon typing revealed that 94.1% (143/152) of the recovered E. coli isolates contained at least one replicon. The predominant replicon was FII (62.5%, 95/152), followed by I1a (56.6%, 86/152), HI2 (48.7%, 74/152), HI1 (30.3%, 46/152), and FIB (29%, 44/152). Using Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), human and pet isolates clustered together with a similarity ranging from 85-95%. The similarity of resistance, plasmid replicons and PFGE patterns in E. coli from humans and companion animals indicated strains might be shared between both sources. Further studies are required to characterize plasmids and their relevance to dissemination of AR genes between humans and companion animals.