Antimicrobial resistance in faecal enterococci and Escherichia coli isolates recovered from Iberian wolf

Abstract

Significance and Impact of the Study: This study shows antimicrobial resistance in commensal bacteria from the free-range, Portuguese, Iberian wolf population. The results indicate that the Iberian wolf could contribute to the spread of resistant bacteria throughout the environment. Additionally, in case of infection, an increased risk of therapeutic failure due to the presence of multiresistant bacteria may represent a health problem for this endangered species. Future studies must be performed to analyse the possible contamination of these animals through the environment and/or the food chain. AbstractThe aim of this study was to report the antimicrobial resistance, the molecular mechanisms associated and the detection of virulence determinants within faecal Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli isolates of Iberian wolf. Enterococci (n = 227) and E. coli (n = 195) isolates were obtained from faecal samples of Iberian wolf (Canis lupus signatus). High rates of resistance were detected for tetracycline and erythromycin among the enterococci isolates, and most of resistant isolates harboured the tet(M) and/or tet(L) and erm(B) genes, respectively. The bla TEM, tet(A) and/or tet(B), and aadA or strA-strB genes were detected among most ampicillin-, tetracycline-or streptomycin-resistant E. coli isolates, respectively. E. coli isolates were ascribed to phylogroups A (n = 56), B1 (91), B2 (13) and D (35). The occurrence of resistant enterococci and E. coli isolates in the faecal flora of Iberian wolf, including the presence of resistant genes in integrons, and virulence determinants was showed in this study. Iberian wolf might act as reservoir of certain resistance genes that could be spread throughout the environment.

Assessment of antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolates and screening of Salmonella spp. in wild ungulates from Portugal

“…In this study, the percentage of fecal samples that led to isolation of E. coli strains was similar to that obtained by Gonçalves et al with Iberian wolf in the Northeast of Portugal, where a recovery of 82% was achieved [29]. Nonetheless, our values are considerably higher than those reported for red fox samples collected in northern Portugal (42%) [7].…”

Potential impact of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife, environment and human health

“…In Portugal, the prevalence of E. coli of groups A and B1 was observed in wild birds as seagulls (Radhouani et al, 2009), birds of prey (Radhouani et al, 2012b), and Passeriformes (Santos et al, 2013), but also in wild mammals as Iberian lynxes (Gonçalves et al, 2012a), red foxes (Radhouani et al, 2013), and in Iberian wolf (Gonçalves et al, 2013a; Figure 1 ). In addition, a report conducted by Simões et al (2010) shows that 37% of all ESBL- E. coli isolated from seagulls belong to B2 or D phylogroup, a higher rate than previously reported (27% of all E. coli ; Poeta et al, 2008).…”

“…In Portugal, concerning wild animals, E. faecium were found to be the main species in seagulls (Radhouani et al, 2011b); birds of prey (Radhouani et al, 2012b), partridges (Silva et al, 2011b), Iberian wolf (Gonçalves et al, 2013a), red foxes (Radhouani et al, 2013), wild boars (Poeta et al, 2007a), gilthead seabream (Barros et al, 2011), and Echinoderms (Marinho et al, 2013), while E. faecalis was dominant in Passeriformes (Santos et al, 2013) and wild rabbits (Silva et al, 2010). On the other hand, E. hirae was the predominant specie isolated from Iberian lynx (Gonçalves et al, 2013b,c; Figure 2 ).…”

Dissemination of antibiotic resistant Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli from wild birds of Azores Archipelago

“…Over the past years a huge concern has been rising about the increase of antimicrobial resistance among commensal bacteria such as enterococci and Escherichia coli in wild animals [1][2][3][4][5][6].…”