Prevalence and Characterization of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in Ready-to-Eat Street Foods

Abstract

As the global urban populations increase with rapid migration from rural areas, ready-to-eat (RTE) street foods are posing food safety challenges where street foods are prepared with less structured food safety guidelines in small and roadside outlets. The increased presence of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL) producing bacteria in street foods is a significant risk for human health because of its epidemiological significance. Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae have become important and dangerous foodborne pathogens globally for their relevance to antibiotic resistance. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the potential burden of antibiotic-resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae contaminating RTE street foods and to assess the microbiological quality of foods in a typical emerging and growing urban suburb of India where RTE street foods are rapidly establishing with public health implications. A total of 100 RTE food samples were collected of which, 22.88% were E. coli and 27.12% K. pneumoniae. The prevalence of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae was 25.42%, isolated mostly from chutneys, salads, paani puri, and chicken. Antimicrobial resistance was observed towards cefepime (72.9%), imipenem (55.9%), cefotaxime (52.5%), and meropenem (16.9%) with 86.44% of the isolates with MAR index above 0.22. Among β-lactamase encoding genes, blaTEM (40.68%) was the most prevalent followed by blaCTX (32.20%) and blaSHV (10.17%). blaNDM gene was detected in 20.34% of the isolates. This study indicated that contaminated RTE street foods present health risks to consumers and there is a high potential of transferring multi-drug-resistant bacteria from foods to humans and from person to person as pathogens or as commensal residents of the human gut leading to challenges for subsequent therapeutic treatments.

High Prevalence of Klebsiella pneumoniae in European Food Products: a Multicentric Study Comparing Culture and Molecular Detection Methods

“…Salads are typically eaten raw, with a high risk of ingestion of live K. pneumoniae bacteria if present. The prevalence of KpSC in ready-to-eat salads was approximately 30%, higher than what was reported in the few comparable studies (6 to 15%) ( 35 – 38 ). ESBL producers were found in 1.4% of the samples (2 CTX-M-15), a lower prevalence than what is described in the literature (15 to 25%) targeting ESBL strains ( 38 – 41 ).…”

“…The prevalence of KpSC in ready-to-eat salads was approximately 30%, higher than what was reported in the few comparable studies (6 to 15%) ( 35 – 38 ). ESBL producers were found in 1.4% of the samples (2 CTX-M-15), a lower prevalence than what is described in the literature (15 to 25%) targeting ESBL strains ( 38 – 41 ). As observed for chicken meat samples, the same genotype was observed within the same country in salads from the same or different chain supplier/supermarket, suggesting a common source of the vegetables (e.g., different brands supplied by a common farm) or cross-contamination during their growth and processing (e.g., use of untreated irrigation water, wild-life animals, contamination of fields with manure, human contamination during packaging).…”

Short communication: Antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria isolated from street-vended foods in Bangladesh

“…Our study further highlighted the prevalence of multidrug-resistant E. coli in street foods of Bangladesh, considering that 64% of the isolates were identified as E. coli. The unhygienic food handling behaviors of street vendors might be the cause of fecal contamination, indicated by the presence of E. coli [23][24][25][26]. Additionally, 22 isolates had a MAR index >0.2, which indicated the overuse of antibiotics and the possibility of contamination from high-risk sources during production, handling of raw materials, manufacturing, and transportation [27][28][29][30].…”

Ready-to-eat foods: A potential vehicle for spread of coagulase-positive staphylococci and antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Buea municipality, South West Cameroon

“…Although foods have been reported as vehicles for the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the role of RTE foods in the spread of these pathogens is scantily documented [25]. Some RTE foods have been reported to carry antibiotic-resistant enterococci [5], antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus species [28] and other bacterial species [29,30]. Unfortunately, the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in RTE food is not routinely investigated in low-and middleincome countries and data are only available from a small number of studies [23].…”

“…antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus species [28] and other bacterial species [29,30]. Unfortunately, the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in RTE food is not routinely investigated in low-and middleincome countries and data are only available from a small number of studies [23].…”