Proteus mirabilis is abundantly found in soil and water, and although it is part of the normal human intestinal flora, it has been known to cause serious infections in humans and a common pathogen responsible for complicated urinary tract infections. It is also commonly associated with multidrug resistance. In the current study, analysis of 1093 different samples from foods of animal origin and intestinal samples confirmed 232 P. mirabilis isolates by PCR. Of the 232, 72 isolates exhibited β-lactamase production both by phenotypic and genotypic methods with highest occurrence in poultry cloacal swabs (11.82%) followed by mutton (9.18%), khoa (6.32%), pork (5.63%), pig rectal swabs (5.52%), beef (5.45%) and chicken (5.13%) but none from sheep rectal and bovine rectal swabs. Among β-lactamase genes, bla TEM was the predominant gene detected (59) followed by bla OXA (11), bla SHV (5), bla FOX (5), bla CIT (4), bla CTX-M1 and bla CTX-M9 (2 each) and bla CTX-M2 , bla DHA and bla EBC (1 each). None of the isolates were carrying bla ACC, bla MOX and carbapenamase genes ( bla VIM , bla IMP , bla KPC and bla NDM-1 ). Dendrogram analysis of ERIC and REP-PCR fingerprints of β-lactamase producing P. mirabilis isolates differentiated 63 strains whereas 9 isolates did not yield any bands. The present study revealed that 6.58% of the samples showed presence β-lactamase producing P. mirabilis isolates that may play a role in food safety and contamination of the environment. Further genotyping methods expressed the genetic relationship between isolates of different origin. The study emphasizes the judicious use of antibiotics inorder to control the spread of β-lactamase producing bacteria.
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