The Pork Food Chain as a Route of Transmission of Antimicrobial Resistant Escherichia coli: A Farm-to-Fork Perspective

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a public health risk that needs to be faced from a One Health perspective that includes humans, animals, and environmental health. The food production chain has been identified as a possible route of transmission of AMR bacteria to humans. The most critical phenomenon is related to Critically Important Antimicrobial (CIA) resistance. β-lactams antibiotics (cephalosporin of 3rd, 4th generation, carbapenem, monobactams, and penicillins), quinolones, aminoglycosides, polymyxin, and glycylcyclines were the CIAs chosen in this study. Samples derived from all the stages of the pork food production chain were collected, including pig feces, carcasses, and pork food products (fresh meat, fermented, and seasoned). Escherichia coli were isolated, and AMR and MDR profiles were evaluated. Enterobacterial Repetitive Intragenic Consensus (ERIC-PCR) was used to evaluate phylogenetic similarities. Data showed that 50% of phenotypical AMR observed in the entire pork food chain were related phylogenetically. The contamination of fresh meat, in half of the cases, was not directly related to contamination from feces or carcasses. Despite this, some similarities were found between feces and carcasses. In group analysis, phylogenetic similarities were detected in a 3/36 cluster (8.3%). Nevertheless, further studies are needed to improve consumer risk communication and access to clear and reliable information and health concerns on food labels.

Occurrence and genomic characterization of antimicrobial-resistant and potential pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> from Italian artisanal food productions of animal origin

“…Although fermented dry sausages are commonly designated as microbiologically stable ready-to-eat meat products because of their low water activity and pH, foodborne pathogens, including E. coli STEC, have been demonstrated to survive production processes and colonize these products through contaminated raw meat, additives, processing equipment, or as a result of post-processing contamination (Dalzini et al ., 2015 ). Besides outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 linked to pork meat salami reported worldwide (MacDonald et al ., 2004 ; Conedera et al ., 2007 ), commensal E. coli were also identified in Italian pork meat salami (Rega et al ., 2021 ) and fermented pork meat products (Rega et al ., 2023 ). Additionally, E. coli has also been assessed in cheese made from pasteurized milk (Trmčić et al ., 2016 ).…”

“…Phenotypic resistances (ampicillin, gentamicin, trimethoprim, ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, sulfamethoxazole, and tetracycline) had high consistency with resistome profiles. Resistances to sulfamethoxazole and gentamicin have been reported in the pork food chain (Rega et al ., 2023 ), as well as tetracycline and ampicillin resistances in pig farms (Bryan et al ., 2004 ; Boripun et al ., 2023 ).…”