Antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella and generic Escherichia coli isolated from surface water samples used for recreation and a source of drinking water in southwestern Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the aquatic environment represents an important means of introduction and dissemination of resistance genes, and presence of resistant pathogens in surface waters may pose a public health concern to recreational and drinking water users. The purpose of this study was to explore antimicrobial resistance patterns in water samples collected from the Grand River watershed (southwestern Ontario, Canada) to describe the composition, trends and potential risks of AMR in the aquatic environment. As part of FoodNet Canada and the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS), stream water samples were collected bi‐weekly from sampling sites within the Grand River watershed in the Waterloo, Ontario sentinel site and tested for the presence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella spp. (2005–2013) and generic Escherichia coli (2012–2013). Of all samples tested, 16% of Salmonella and 22% of E. coli isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial, including three Salmonella isolates and two E. coli isolates that were resistant to Category I antimicrobials, which are classified as very high importance for the treatment of serious bacterial infections in humans. The greatest proportion of resistant E. coli isolates were observed from the river site upstream of the drinking water intake, while the greatest proportion of resistant Salmonella isolates were from sites upstream in the watershed, and at one recreational water site. Salmonella resistance trends remained fairly stable between 2007 and 2013, with the exception of streptomycin and tetracycline which increased in 2010 and 2013. Continued surveillance of antimicrobial resistance patterns and exploration of risk factor data will allow for a better understanding of resistance transmission in the aquatic environment.

Distribution of multidrug-resistant Salmonella spp. recovered from aquatic environment of Banda Aceh, Indonesia

“…The infections generate significant implications in both clinical and non-clinical settings (Hazards 2009;Majowicz et al 2010). The pathogens have been applied as one indicator microorganisms signify the environmental sanitation or the occurrence of polluted surface water (Levantesi et al 2012;Kadykalo et al 2020). In the present study, the isolates of Salmonella spp.…”

“…Even though Salmonella spp. are prevalently found in meat, egg, poultry products, as well as, fresh produces (Liu et al 2018), the bacteria particularly those exhibiting antimicrobial resistance are also detected in (contaminated) surface water (Kadykalo et al 2020;Massinai et al 2019). The rise of antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella spp.…”

Antibiotic Resistance in Recreational Waters: State of the Science

“…While the presence of AMR bacteria and ARGs in ambient surface water has been well-documented, their behavior in the environment and response to selection pressure is unclear [31,33,214]. Pepper et al [13] describe a need to better understand the survival of AMR bacteria and the transfer efficiency of ARGs in various environmental matrices including water and soil.…”

“…Bacterial pathogens, include but are not limited to, those in the Enterobacteriaceae family (e.g., pathogenic E. coli, Klebsiella spp., Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., and Yersinia pestis) and Staphylococcus aureus (specifically MRSA), which have all been detected in ambient waters [15,[18][19][20]. Overall, the presence of AMR bacteria and ARGs in surface water is well established [15][16][17][18][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. However, direct comparisons between these studies are difficult as the geography, AMR bacteria and ARGs selected for evaluation, sources of fecal impacts, and methods of determining resistance are highly variable between studies [27,32].…”

“…However, direct comparisons between these studies are difficult as the geography, AMR bacteria and ARGs selected for evaluation, sources of fecal impacts, and methods of determining resistance are highly variable between studies [27,32]. The presence of AMR bacteria and ARGs in recreational waters suggests the potential for exposure to resistant microorganisms during swimming and similar recreational water activities [25,28,31,33].…”