Prevalence and Diversity of Integrons and Associated Resistance Genes inEscherichia coliIsolates from Poultry Meat in Tunisia

Abstract

A total of 174 E. coli isolates collected from healthy poultry, bovine and ovine recovered between December 2009 and June 2013 in different geographic location in Tunisia, were assessed and examinated for resistance to antimicrobial agents. Avian isolates showed the highest rates of antibiotic resistance: tetracycline (74.7 %), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and amoxicillin with the same rate of resistance (57 %). Prevalences of resistance to the same four antimicrobials in bovine isolates were 33.3 %, 65 %, 30 %, 28.3 %, respectively. However, for ovine isolates, low resistance rates were observed, except for tetracycline (40 %) and amoxicillin (22.85 %). Only one ESBL-producing isolate from chicken was detected. In addition, seventy-seven (44.2 %) isolates were resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics and were considered multidrug resistant (MDR). Interestingly, avian E. coli isolates were more resistant than bovine and ovine ones. These results provide novel insights into the epidemiological characteristics of poultry, bovine and ovine E.coli isolates in Tunisia, and suggest the need for the prudent use of antimicrobial agents in husbandry and the urgent need to establish a national antibiotic resistance monitoring program.

Diverse Escherichia coli pathovars of phylogroups B2 and D isolated from animals in Tunisia

“…The results also showed low levels of resistance to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ceftazidime, and cefotaxime. Similar results have been reported in E. coli strains isolated from animal origins, especially avian isolates, in many countries including Tunisia [20,21]. High rates of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli have been reported in Tunisian patients [22][23][24].…”

Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli Isolates from Healthy Poultry, Bovine and Ovine in Tunisia: A Real Animal and Human Health Threat

“…However, a very high frequency of resistance to trimethoprim -sulfamethoxazole (80 %) was reported in our previous work [27]. Trimethoprim is used in medicine against a wide specter of bacteria including E. coli and other enterobacteria.…”

“…Furthermore, the combination with sulfonamides increases its effi ciency. However, the use of this antimicrobial in the animal feed, as well as its use in uncontrolled way in human medicine, during a prolonged time can entail the development and the transmission of genes encoding this resistance marker [27].…”

Class 1 and 2 integrons, sul resistance genes and antibiotic resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from Dongjiang River, South China

“…But to the best of our knowledge, three gene cassette arrays, aac(6')-Ib-cr-aar-3-dfrA27-aadA16, aacA4-catB3-dfrA1 and aadA2-lnuF (Table 3), are reported for the first time in surface water. It is interesting to find that the gene cassettes inserted in the class 1 and 2 integrons carried by E. coli isolated from the Dongjiang River are similar to those found in E. coli isolated from poultry (Soufi et al, 2009;Vasilakopoulou et al, 2009), swine (Lapierre et al, 2010), and human (Vasilakopoulou et al, 2009). The high similarity of class 1 and 2 integrons gene cassettes among E. coli isolated from clinical specimens, poultry, swine, and river water strongly indicates that surface water plays a key role in spreading ARGs in the environment, which originate from animal and human sources.…”