Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Enterococci Isolated from Retail Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats

McGowan, L.; Jackson, Charlene R.; Barrett, John B.; Hiott, Lari M.; Fedorka–Cray, Paula J.

doi:10.4315/0362-028x-69.12.2976

Cited by 64 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Tetracycline resistance has also been commonly reported among enterococci from a variety of meat products [30,48,49,53,54]. Erythromycin and gentamicin resistant enterococci are widespread in pork [48], beef, and chicken [37] meat products. High level resistance to aminoglycosides (streptomycin, gentamicin) is common among enterococci from food animals and associated meat products [10,27,37].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of House Flies in the Ecology of Enterococcus faecalis from Wastewater Treatment Facilities

2013

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Enterococci are important nosocomial pathogens with Enterococcus faecalis most commonly responsible for human infections. In this study, we used several measures to test the hypothesis that house flies, Musca domestica (L.), acquire and disseminate antibiotic resistant and potentially virulent E.faecalis from wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) to the surrounding urban environment. House flies and sludge from four WWTF (1-4) as well as house flies from three urban sites close to WWTF-1 were collected and cultured for enterococci. Enterococci were identified, quantified, screened for antibiotic resistance and virulence traits, and assessed for clonality. Of the eleven antibiotics tested, E. faecalis was most commonly resistant to tetracycline, doxycycline, streptomycin, gentamicin and erythromycin and these traits were intra-species horizontally transferrable by in vitro conjugation. Profiles of E. faecalis (prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and virulence traits) from each of WWTF sludge and associated house flies were similar, indicating that flies successfully acquired these bacteria from this substrate. The greatest number of E. faecalis with antibiotic resistance and virulence factors (i.e., gelatinase, cytolysin, enterococcus surface protein, and aggregation substance) originated from WWTF-1 that processed meat waste from a nearby commercial meat processing plant, suggesting an agricultural rather than human clinical source of these isolates. E. faecalis from house flies collected from three sites 0.7 -1.5 km away from WWTF-1 were also similar in their antibiotic resistance profiles; however, antibiotic resistance was significantly less frequent. Clonal diversity assessment using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed the same clones of E. faecalis from sludge and house flies from WWTF-1 but not from the three urban sites close to WWTF-1. This study demonstrates that house flies acquire antibiotic resistant enterococci from WWTF and potentially disseminate them to the surrounding environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of House Flies in the Ecology of Enterococcus faecalis from Wastewater Treatment Facilities

2013

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“…Investigations of the level of contamination of food with antibiotic-resistant strains have been focused on raw food (pork, beef, and poultry) before preparation and cooking (17,19,20,31,48,50), during which most of the bacteria and their genes are likely destroyed; milk and milk products (cheese and other fermented products) (12,13,17,48); fresh produce (12,22,31,48); and probiotic strains (11,12).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only a few studies have evaluated enterococcal contamination in ready-to-eat foods (RTEFs), and these included cheese (13,17), fermented sausages (14), and produce (12,22,31). However, RTEFs such as meals from fast-food restaurants that are very commonly consumed in developed countries have not been assessed for the frequency and level of enterococcal contamination nor as a source of a possible influx of AR and virulence genes to the resident microbial community in the human digestive tract.…”

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confidence: 99%

Influx of Enterococci and Associated Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Genes from Ready-To-Eat Food to the Human Digestive Tract

Macovei¹,

Zurek

2007

Appl Environ Microbiol

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The influx of enterococcal antibiotic resistance (AR) and virulence genes from ready-to-eat food (RTEF) to the human digestive tract was assessed. Three RTEFs (chicken salad, chicken burger, and carrot cake) were sampled from five fast-food restaurants five times in summer (SU) and winter (WI). The prevalence of enterococci was significantly higher in SU (92.0% of salad samples and 64.0% of burger samples) than in WI (64.0% of salad samples and 24.0% of burger samples). The overall concentrations of enterococci during the two seasons were similar (ϳ10 3 CFU/g); the most prevalent were Enterococcus casseliflavus (41.5% of isolates) and Enterococcus hirae (41.5%) in WI and Enterococcus faecium (36.8%), E. casseliflavus (27.6%), and Enterococcus faecalis (22.4%) in SU. Resistance in WI was detected primarily to tetracycline (50.8%), ciprofloxacin (13.8%), and erythromycin (4.6%). SU isolates were resistant mainly to tetracycline (22.8%), erythromycin (22.1%), and kanamycin (13.0%). The most common tet gene was tet(M) (35.4% of WI isolates and 11.9% of SU isolates). The prevalence of virulence genes (gelE, asa1, cylA, and esp) and marker genes for clinical isolates (EF_0573, EF_0592, EF_0605, EF_1420, EF_2144, and pathogenicity island EF_0050) was low (<12.3%). Genotyping of E. faecalis and E. faecium using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that the food contamination likely originated from various sources and that it was not clonal. Our conservative estimate (single AR gene copy per cell) for the influx of tet genes alone to the human digestive tract is 3.8 ؋ 10 5 per meal (chicken salad). This AR gene influx is frequent because RTEFs are commonly consumed and that may play a role in the acquisition of AR determinants in the human digestive tract.

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“…AR bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes can be exchanged between the animal reservoir and the human reservoir (7,10,11). This can be a consequence of direct contact with animals or their environment or through indirect contact through the food chain (12).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli Isolates from Lettuce, Irrigation Water, and Soil

Holvoet

Sampers

Callens

et al. 2013

Appl Environ Microbiol

101

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cFresh produce is known to carry nonpathogenic epiphytic microorganisms. During agricultural production and harvesting, leafy greens can become contaminated with antibiotic-resistant pathogens or commensals from animal and human sources. As lettuce does not undergo any inactivation or preservation treatment during processing, consumers may be exposed directly to all of the (resistant) bacteria present. In this study, we investigated whether lettuce or its production environment (irrigation water, soil) is able to act as a vector or reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli. Over a 1-year period, eight lettuce farms were visited multiple times and 738 samples, including lettuce seedlings (leaves and soil), soil, irrigation water, and lettuce leaves were collected. From these samples, 473 isolates of Escherichia coli were obtained and tested for resistance to 14 antimicrobials. Fiftyfour isolates (11.4%) were resistant to one or more antimicrobials. The highest resistance rate was observed for ampicillin (7%), followed by cephalothin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, tetracycline, trimethoprim, and streptomycin, with resistance rates between 4.4 and 3.6%. No resistance to amikacin, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, or kanamycin was observed. One isolate was resistant to cefotaxime. Among the multiresistant isolates (n ‫؍‬ 37), ampicillin and cephalothin showed the highest resistance rates, at 76 and 52%, respectively. E. coli isolates from lettuce showed higher resistance rates than E. coli isolates obtained from soil or irrigation water samples. When the presence of resistance in E. coli isolates from lettuce production sites and their resistance patterns were compared with the profiles of animal-derived E. coli strains, they were found to be the most comparable with what is found in the cattle reservoir. This may suggest that cattle are a potential reservoir of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli strains in plant primary production.

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Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Enterococci Isolated from Retail Fruits, Vegetables, and Meats

Cited by 64 publications

References 20 publications

Role of House Flies in the Ecology of Enterococcus faecalis from Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Role of House Flies in the Ecology of Enterococcus faecalis from Wastewater Treatment Facilities

Influx of Enterococci and Associated Antibiotic Resistance and Virulence Genes from Ready-To-Eat Food to the Human Digestive Tract

Moderate Prevalence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli Isolates from Lettuce, Irrigation Water, and Soil

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