The objective of this study was to investigate the antibiotic resistance of Escherichia fergusonii isolated from commercial broiler chicken farms. A total of 245 isolates from cloacal and cecal samples of 28- to 36-day-old chickens were collected from 32 farms. Isolates were identified using PCR, and their susceptibility to 16 antibiotics was determined by disk diffusion assay. All isolates were susceptible to meropenem, amikacin, and ciprofloxacin. The most common resistances were against ampicillin (75.1%), streptomycin (62.9%), and tetracycline (57.1%). Of the 184 ampicillin-resistant isolates, 127 were investigated using a DNA microarray carrying 75 probes for antibiotic resistance genetic determinants. Of these 127 isolates, the β-lactamase blaCMY2, blaTEM, blaACT, blaSHV, and blaCTX-M-15 genes were detected in 120 (94.5%), 31 (24.4%), 8 (6.3%), 6 (4.7%), and 4 (3.2%) isolates, respectively. Other detected genes included those conferring resistance to aminoglycosides (aadA1, strA, strB), trimethoprims (dfrV, dfrA1), tetracyclines (tetA, tetB, tetC, tetE), and sulfonamides (sul1, sul2). Class 1 integron was found in 35 (27.6%) of the ampicillin-resistant isolates. However, our data showed that the tested E. fergusonii did not carry any carbapenemase blaOXA genes. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that the selected ampicillin-resistant E. fergusonii isolates were genetically diverse. The present study indicates that the monitoring of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria should include enteric bacteria such as E. fergusonii, which could be a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes. The detection of isolates harboring extended-spectrum β-lactamase genes, particularly blaCTX-M-15, in this work suggests that further investigations on the occurrence of such genes in broilers are warranted.

e Escherichia fergusonii is an emerging pathogen that has been isolated from a wide range of infections in animals and humans. Primers targeting specific genes, including yliE (encoding a conserved hypothetical protein of the cellulose synthase and regulator of cellulose synthase island), EFER_1569 (encoding a hypothetical protein, putative transcriptional activator for multiple antibiotic resistance), and EFER_3126 (encoding a putative triphosphoribosyl-dephospho-coenzyme A [CoA]), were designed for the detection of E. fergusonii by conventional and real-time PCR methods. Primers were screened by in silico PCR against 489 bacterial genomic sequences and by both PCR methods on 55 reference and field strains. Both methods were specific and sensitive for E. fergusonii, showing amplification only for this bacterium. Conventional PCR required a minimum bacterial concentration of approximately 10 2 CFU/ml, while real-time PCR required a minimum of 0.3 pg of DNA for consistent detection. Standard curves showed an efficiency of 98.5%, with an R 2 value of 0.99 for the real-time PCR assay. Cecal and cloacal contents from 580 chickens were sampled from broiler farms located in the Fraser Valley (British Columbia, Canada). Presumptive E. fergusonii isolates were recovered by enrichment and plating on differential and selective media. Of 301 total presumptive isolates, 140 (46.5%) were identified as E. fergusonii by biochemical profiling with the API 20E system and 268 (89.0%) using PCR methods. E. fergusonii detection directly from cecal and cloacal samples without preenrichment was achieved with both PCR methods. Hence, the PCR methods developed in this work significantly improve the detection of E. fergusonii.

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The antibiotic resistances and virulence profiles of Salmonella spp. isolated from healthy (group 1) and ill (group 2) swine were compared. Parameters studied included colicin and siderophore production; mannosesensitive hemagglutination of erythrocytes; resistance to the lethal effect of serum complement; resistance to antibiotics; and the transmissibility of these characteristics to recipient organisms. Group 1 (19 isolates) had 14 serotypes, and group 2 (20 isolates) had 2 serotypes. Isolates from group 2 were resistant to more antibiotics and had a greater ability to hemagglutinate erythrocytes and transfer R plasmids to recipient organisms, but a lesser ability to produce siderophore than group 1. All 39 isolates resisted the lethal effects of serum complement. Colicin was produced by 1 of 19 from group 1 and 0 of 20 from group 2. A donor Escherichia coli isolated from a pig with enteritis transferred R plasmids to 62% of group 1 and 0% of group 2 Salmonella spp. when they were used as recipient organisms. A transconjugant from the mating of donor E. coli to a group 1 Salmonella spp. was further able to pass an R plasmid to recipient E. coli and salmonellae. Plasmid isolation from group 1 yielded 1 of 19 strains with a 56-megadalton plasmid, while 20 of 20 strains from group 2 contained three to five plasmids from 2.4 to 60 megadaltons in size.