Scientific Opinion on the public health risks of bacterial strains producing extended-spectrum β-lactamases and/or AmpC β-lactamases in food and food-producing animals

Abstract

The potential contribution of food-producing animals or foods to public health risks by ESBL and/or AmpCproducing bacteria is related to specific plasmid-mediated ESBL and/or AmpC genes encoded by a number of organisms. The predominant ESBL families encountered are CTX-M, TEM, and SHV; the predominant AmpCfamily is CMY. The most common genes associated with this resistance in animals are bla CTX-M-1 (the most commonly identified ESBL), and bla CTX-M-14 , followed by bla and bla Among the genes encoding AmpC-type β-lactamases, bla CMY-2 is the most common.The bacterial species most commonly identified with these genes are Escherichia coli and non-typhoidal Salmonella. ESBL/AmpC transmission is mainly driven by integrons, insertion sequences, transposons and plasmids, some of which are homologous in isolates from both food-production animals and humans. Cefotaxime is used as the drug of choice for optimum detection of bla ESBL and/or bla AmpC genes. The preferred method for isolation of ESBL-and/or AmpC-producers is screening on selective agar preceded by selective enrichment in a broth.The establishment of risk factors for occurrence of ESBL/AmpC-producing bacteria is particularly complicated by the data unavailability or lack of its accuracy. The use of antimicrobials is a risk factor for the selection and spread of resistant clones, resistance genes and plasmids. Since most ESBL-and AmpC-producing strains carry additional resistances to other commonly-used veterinary drugs, generic antimicrobial use is a risk factor for ESBL/AmpC and it is not restricted specifically to the use of cephalosporins. An additional risk factor is extensive trade of animals in EU MS. There are no data on the comparative efficiency of individual control options in reducing public health risks caused by ESBL and/or AmpC-producing bacteria related to food-producing animals. Prioritisation is complex, but it is considered that a highly effective control option would be to stop all uses of cephalosporins/systemically active 3 rd /4 th generation cephalosporins, or to restrict their use (use only allowed under specific circumstances). As co-resistance is an important issue, it is also of high priority to decrease the total antimicrobial use in animal production in the EU. KEY WORDSResistance, ESBLs, AmpC, occurrence, transmission, control options, public health microbiology. SUMMARYFollowing a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ) was asked to deliver a Scientific Opinion on the public health risks of bacterial strains producing extended-spectrum beta (β)-lactamases (ESBL) and/or AmpC β-lactamases (AmpC) in food and foodproducing animals. In particular, the Panel was asked: (i) to propose a definition of the ESBL-and/or AmpC-producing bacterial strains and genes relevant for public health and linked to food-producing animals or food borne transmission; (ii) to review the information on the epidemiology of acquired resistance to broad spectrum cephalosporins including the genes coding for ...

Plasmid-Mediated Resistance to Cephalosporins and Fluoroquinolones in Various Escherichia coli Sequence Types Isolated from Rooks Wintering in Europe

“…CMY-2 is the most common type of AmpC enzymes among Enterobacteriaceae in farm and companion animals, food products, as well as humans. Other types of AmpC beta-lactamases are scarcely reported (1,11). It has been suggested that poultry can be an important reservoir of CMY-2 AmpC beta-lactamases (1).…”

“…The major mechanism conferring resistance to cephalosporins is mediated by extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) and AmpC beta-lactamases (1). Although plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes confer only a low level of resistance to fluoroquinolones and resistance is mainly caused by point mutations of the quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR), coding for gyrase and topoisomerase (2), the interaction between mutations in the QRDR and PMQR genes leads to higher levels of resistance to fluoroquinolones (3).…”

Frequent Occurrence of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase- and Transferable AmpC Beta-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli on Domestic Chicken Meat in Sweden

“…The emergence of this type of resistance is mainly linked to the spread of genes encoding extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) and/or transferable AmpC beta-lactamases (pAmpC) (5). Poultry, primarily broilers, have been suggested as a source for these types of genes and/or the resistant bacteria (6)(7)(8). In Sweden, broilers are rarely treated with antibiotics and no usage of cephalosporins was registered in 2010 (9).…”

Tavuklarda Genişlemiş Spektrumlu β-laktamaz ve AmpC β-laktamaz Üreten Escherichia coli İzolatlarının Saptanması

“…An increase in the zone diameter of 5 mm or more, when either of the antimicrobial agents was combined with clavulanic acid, was considered evidence of ESBL production [16] . Phenotypic detection of AmpC production was carried out by determination of resistance to cefoxitin and susceptibility to cefepime [16,17] . DNA was extracted by Roche High Pure PCR Template Preparation Kit (Roche, France), according to the manufacturer's instructions.…”