Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been a major public health concern in humans. Among MRSA, livestock-associated (LA)-MRSA strains have always been associated with exposure to livestock or their products and have emerged in different countries globally. Although studies have identified LA-MRSA from healthy pigs and pork in Thailand, prevalence in slaughtered pigs is still unknown. In addition, there are few reports on the epidemiology and molecular characteristics of LA-MRSA in Thailand. Hence, this is the first report investigating the epidemiology and molecular characteristics of MRSA in individual slaughtered pigs and pork in Thailand. A total of 204 nasal swab and 116 retailed pork samples were collected from three slaughterhouses and four fresh markets, respectively. Individual samples were used for screening for MRSA and obtained isolates were examined for drug- resistance profiling for 12 antimicrobial agents of 10 drug classes. In addition, SCCmec typing and multi-locus sequence typing were conducted to obtain genotype profiles. MRSA were isolated from 11 and 52 nasal swab and pork samples, respectively. The prevalence was significantly higher in the pork than in the nasal swab samples (p-value < 0.05). A high prevalence of ST9-SCCmecIX and ST398-SCCmecV with high-level antimicrobial resistance from markets and slaughterhouses indicated the spreading of MRSA with these genotypes in the Thai swine processing chains and suggested the need for further investigation to determine a control.
Antimicrobial resistance is recognized as a growing public health problem. Antimicrobial use and misuse in animal farms have boosted antimicrobial resistance among bacteria in the animal habitat and may be transferred to humans. Therefore, this study was to determine the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance, integrons and their association in Escherichia coli isolated from dairy goats in Nong Chok, Bangkok. Ninety-four fecal samples from dairy goats were collected by rectal swab between April 2019 and May 2019. Of 180 E. coli isolates, 141 were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent by disc diffusion method. The most frequent E. coli resistance was to streptomycin 65.6% (118/180), followed by tetracycline 30.0% (54/180), kanamycin 21.7% (39/180), and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim 21.7% (39/180). Furthermore, the percentage of multidrug resistant (MDR) E. coli was 23.9% (43/180). Thirty-nine antimicrobial resistance profiles were found in this study and the most common resistance profiles were STR 23.3% (42/180), STR-TET-SXT 10.0% (18/180) and KAN-STR 6.7% (12/180). All of the 180 E. coli isolates were detected class 1 and 2 integrons by multiplex PCR. The results revealed 22.2% (40/180) were positive for integrons including resistant isolates 92.5% (37/40) and susceptible 7.5% (3/40). Moreover, E. coli isolates resistant to streptomycin, tetracycline, enrofloxacin and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim were significantly associated with the presence of integrons (P < 0.05). The data of this study indicated that dairy goats in farms could be a reservoir and possible spread of resistant isolates to farmers and consumers via animals and their products.
Background and Aim: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global problem that affects human and animal health, and eggs can act as a vehicle for pathogenic and non-pathogenic resistant bacteria in the food chain. Escherichia coli is an indicator of food contamination with fecal materials as well as the occurrence and levels of AMR. This study aimed to investigate the presence of AMR, integrons, and virulence genes in E. coli isolated from eggshell samples of three egg production systems, from supermarkets in Thailand. Materials and Methods: A total of 750 hen's egg samples were purchased from supermarkets in Phayao Province: Cage eggs (250), free-range eggs (250), and organic eggs (250). Each sample was soaked in buffered peptone water (BPW), and the BPW samples were incubated at 37°C for 18–24 h. All samples were tested for E. coli by the standard conventional culture method. Then, all identified E. coli were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility to 15 antimicrobial agents by the agar disk diffusion method. All E. coli strains were subsequently found to have virulence genes and Classes 1 and 2 integrons by polymerase chain reaction. Results: Among the eggshell samples, 91 samples were identified as having E. coli (cage eggs, 24 strains; free-range eggs, 27 strains; and organic eggs, 40 strains). Then, among the E. coli strains, 47 (51.6%) were positive for at least one virulence gene. The proportion of AMR in the eggshell samples was 91.2% (83/91), and streptomycin (STR), ampicillin (AMP), and tetracycline (TET) had a high degree of resistance. Among the E. coli strains, 27 (29.7%) strains were positive for class 1 or 2 integrons, and integron-positive strains were commonly found in STR-, AMP-, and TET-resistant strains. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was detected in 57.1% (52/91) of the E. coli strains, with STR-AMP-TET (5.5%) as the most frequent pattern. The proportion of MDR in cage eggs was 75.0% (18/24), which was higher than in both free-range and organic eggs. On the other hand, 53.2% (25/47) of E. coli carrying virulence genes had MDR, distributed across the production systems as follows: Cage eggs, 76.9% (10/13); free-range eggs, 63.6% (7/11); and organic eggs, 34.8% (8/23). Conclusion: Escherichia coli was detected in eggshell samples from all three egg production systems. The high level of virulence genes, AMR, and integrons indicated the possibility of dissemination of AMR among pathogenic and commensal E. coli through eggshells. These findings could be a major concern to farmers, food handlers, and consumers, especially regarding raw egg consumption.
Salmonella causes foodborne disease outbreaks worldwide and raises concerns about public health and economic losses. To determine prevalence, serovar, antimicrobial resistance patterns, and the presence of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) genes in a cross-sectional study, 418 total samples from feces and carcasses (from three slaughterhouses) and pork and cutting boards (from four markets) were collected in a central Thailand province in 2017 and 2018. Of the 418 samples, 272 (65.1%) were positive for Salmonella. The prevalence of Salmonella-positive samples from markets (158 of 178; 88.8%) was significantly higher than that among samples from slaughterhouses (114 of 240; 47.5%) (P < 0.05). A total of 1,030 isolates were identified; 409 were assigned to 45 serovars, with Salmonella Rissen the most common (82 of 409; 20%). Two serovars, Salmonella Cannstatt and Salmonella Braubach, were identified for the first time in Thailand in market and slaughterhouse samples, respectively. Among 180 isolates representing 19 serovars, 133 (73.9%) exhibited multidrug resistance. Screening for ESBL production revealed that 41 (10.3%) of 399 isolates were ESBL positive. The prevalence of ESBL-producing Salmonella isolates was significantly higher among the market isolates (31 of 41; 75.6%) than among the slaughterhouse isolates in (10 of 41; 24.4%) (P < 0.05). In market samples, 24 (77.4%) of 31 isolates were recovered from pork and 7 (22.6%) were recovered from cutting boards. Nine ESBL-producing isolates carried single ESBL genes, either blaTEM (4 of 41 isolates; 9.8%) or blaCTX-M (5 of 41 isolates; 12.2%), whereas 11 (26.8%) carried both blaTEM and blaCTX-M. No ESBL-producing Salmonella isolate carried the blaSHV gene. These results suggest that pigs, their flesh, and cutting boards used for processing pork could be reservoirs for widespread ESBL-producing Salmonella isolates with multidrug resistance and outbreak potential across the food chain. HIGHLIGHTS
Background Mobile phones are widely used and may cause bacterial pathogens to spread among various professionals. S. aureus from the hands of food vendors can contaminate food through their mobile phones during the cooking or packaging process. This research aimed to determine the prevalence, enterotoxin genes, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of S. aureus contaminating the vendors’ mobile phones. Methods In this study, 266 mobile phone samples were randomly collected from food vendors selling food on walking streets (n = 139) and in food centers (n = 127) in Phayao province. All samples were identified S. aureus by the conventional culture method and confirmed species-specific gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Then, all identified S. aureus were tested for antimicrobial susceptibility by broth microdilution method and staphylococcal enterotoxin (SE) genes by PCR. Results The results showed that 12.8% of the mobile phones collected from walking streets (11.5%) and food centers (14.5%) were contaminated with S. aureus. Of 49 S. aureus isolates, 30 (61.2%) were positive for SE genes, detected in both settings. The most common SE gene was sea followed by sec, seb, sem, seq, and sel. Moreover, S. aureus was most frequently resistant to penicillin, followed by chloramphenicol and tetracycline, erythromycin, clindamycin, and gentamicin. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA), and multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains were also detected. Conclusions This study showed that mobile phones were an intermediate surface for the colonization of S. aureus, including multidrug resistance (MDR) variants. It indicates that hand hygiene and the decontamination of mobile phones are essential to prevent cross-contamination of S. aureus in food.
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