Antimicrobial resistance in wildlife and in the built environment in a wildlife rehabilitation center

Abstract

Injured and orphaned wildlife are often brought to Wildlife Rehabilitation Centers (WRC) to be cared for by professionals to ultimately be released back to their natural habitats. In these centers, animals may spend months and frequently receive prolonged antibiotic therapy. Therefore, WRC may play a role in the emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The goal of this study was to investigate the presence and antibiotic resistance profiles of Gram-negative bacteria with reduced susceptibility to cephalosporins in both the wildlife admitted to a WRC and in the WRC built environment in Chile. A cross-sectional study was conducted sampling animals undergoing rehabilitation ( n = 64) and the WRC environment ( n = 160). Isolated bacterial species were identified with MALDI-TOF, and antimicrobial susceptibility determined using the disk diffusion method. Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonadaceae were the dominant bacterial families among the environmental ( n = 78) and animal ( n = 31) isolates. For Enterobacteriaceae , isolates of the most abundant species ( E. coli ) were classified into 20 antibiotic resistance profiles, with eight of those isolates being resistant to more than nine antibiotics, including imipenem. Isolates of the Pseudomonadaceae family identified 11 isolates with resistance to antibiotics such as carbapenems and quinolones. Even though a cluster analysis based on antibiotic resistance patterns did not show a clear overlap between environmental and animal isolates, it is important to highlight the identification of isolates resistant to carbapenems, which is very relevant from a public health perspective. Further, numerous antibiotic resistance profiles were observed in different bacterial species, indicating not only environmental contamination with a wide diversity of bacteria, but also a wide diversity of resistant bacteria in animals at the WRC. The approach taken by sampling animals and their hospital environment can be useful in understanding AMR dynamics in wildlife rehabilitation settings, as well as the potential dissemination of AMR into the natural environment.

Antimicrobial resistance and virulence profiles of Enterobacterales isolated from two-finger and three-finger sloths (Choloepus hoffmanni and Bradypus variegatus) of Costa Rica

“…The antimicrobials mostly used for the treatment of rehabilitated sloths are enrofloxacin and amikacin and the approximate length of treatment is 3 weeks. In this study, there was no association between antimicrobial treatment and the isolates’ MAR index values, which is in line with the study performed by Baros Jorquera et al (2021) . However, this association was observed for isolates 1.01, 1.02, and 2.07, which were resistant to enrofloxacin and obtained from sloths previously treated with this antimicrobial.…”

“…Previous studies support that time in captivity and antibiotic treatment can have a large influence on the antimicrobial resistance outcome of wildlife bacteria ( Stoddard et al, 2009 ; Baros Jorquera et al, 2021 ), including a study performed on a wildlife rehabilitation center from Latin America ( Baros Jorquera et al, 2021 ). How the sloths under study acquired ARB is unknown.…”

“…In the present study, resistance towards fluoroquinolones, especially enrofloxacin (12.5% of isolates) and cephalosporins, namely cephalexin (27.5%) and ceftazidime (5.0%) were also detected. These findings raise concern due to the medical importance of these antimicrobials (carbapenems (meropenem), fluoroquinolones (enrofloxacin), and third-generation cephalosporins (ceftazidime)) for both human and veterinary medicine, including wildlife ( Vittecoq et al, 2016 ; McEwen & Collignon, 2018 ; Baros Jorquera et al, 2021 ). Resistance to cephalosporins, including ceftazidime was recently detected in E. coli isolates in healthy household dogs from Costa Rica ( Rodríguez-González et al, 2020 ).…”

Multi-Drug Resistant Escherichia coli, Biosecurity and Anti-Microbial Use in Live Bird Markets, Abeokuta, Nigeria

“…When AMR bacteria colonize wild animals, and especially migratory birds, they become a reservoir and vectors that disperse these bacteria and AMR genes to new localities [ 31 ]. Wild migratory birds have been implicated in the introduction, maintenance, and global dissemination of different pathogens of transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), Newcastle disease, and AMR-bacteria such as MDR E. coli [ 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”

It Is a Wild World in the City: Urban Wildlife Conservation and Communication in the Age of COVID-19

“…As such, they often receive animals that are wounded or sick. They are therefore contaminated with a wide diversity of pathogens, many of them drug resistant [35]. With the ongoing pandemic in mind, they may warrant special attention by public health programs searching for zoonoses (e.g., [36]) and the potential for transmission to humans and other wildlife [37].…”