Ciprofloxacin‐resistantST198SalmonellaKentucky in a hospitalized American black bear (Ursus americanus), with evidence of subsequent nosocomial transmission

Abstract

Global emergence of ciprofloxacin‐resistant ST198 Salmonella Kentucky poses an important public health threat. While conducting Salmonella surveillance among wildlife patients admitted to our veterinary medical teaching hospital in central New York, we isolated multidrug‐resistant (MDR) ST198 Salmonella Kentucky from an American black bear (Ursus americanus) in September 2020. The isolate was phenotypically resistant to numerous antimicrobial agents, including ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin, and several antimicrobial resistance genes and mutational resistance determinants were detected. Between April and July 2021, the same strain of MDR ST198 Salmonella Kentucky was also isolated from seven other wildlife patients and multiple hospital environmental locations, suggesting nosocomial transmission. Ciprofloxacin resistance is conferred by triple point mutations in the quinolone resistance‐determining regions (QRDRs), a genotypic profile indicative of Clade ST198.2. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this ciprofloxacin‐resistant clade being identified in animals or animal products in the United States. Timely resolution of the outbreak was achieved following efforts to further enhance environmental disinfection protocols and biosecurity measures at the hospital, with no known cases or positive environmental samples after July 2021.

Retrospective study on the occurrence of Salmonella serotypes in veterinary specimens of Atlantic Canada (2012–2021)

“…The persistence of a MDR, ciprofloxacin‐resistant Salmonella ser. Kentucky ST198, in a veterinary hospital environment was recently reported to cause hospital‐associated infections 7 months after its original isolation and was sourced back to a hospitalized American black bear (Cummings et al., 2023 ). In addition, the role of ecology and anthropogenic habitats in sustaining and propagating AMR has been examined in several studies (González‐Torres et al., 2023 ; Torres et al., 2020 ; Vogt et al., 2021 ).…”

“…In addition, the role of ecology and anthropogenic habitats in sustaining and propagating AMR has been examined in several studies (González‐Torres et al., 2023 ; Torres et al., 2020 ; Vogt et al., 2021 ). With the inception of ‘One Health’ paradigm, the complex role of wildlife in the distribution and maintenance of resistant clones at the interfaces of food animals, food chain and ecology is increasingly being emphasized (Cummings et al., 2023 ; González‐Torres et al., 2023 ; La Tela et al., 2021 ; Torres et al., 2020 ; Vogt et al., 2021 ).…”