The Prevalence of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia Coli in Poultry Chickens and Variation According to Farming Practices in Punjab, India

Abstract

Background:Agricultural use of antimicrobials in subtherapeutic concentrations is increasing in response to the rising demand for food animal products worldwide. In India, the use of antimicrobials in food animal production is unregulated. Research suggests that many clinically important antimicrobials are used indiscriminately. This is the largest study to date in India that surveys poultry production to test for antimicrobial resistance and the occurrence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) modulated by farming and managerial practices.Objectives:Our goal was to survey poultry production for resistance to eleven clinically relevant antimicrobials and phenotypic occurrence of ESBLs as modulated by farming and managerial practices.Methods:Eighteen poultry farms from Punjab were surveyed, and 1,556 Escherichia coli isolates from 530 birds were tested for susceptibility to 11 antimicrobials using the disk diffusion method and validated using VITEK 2 (bioMérieux, Marcy-L’Étoile, France). Samples from 510 of these birds were phenotypically tested for ESBL production using the combination disk method and confirmed using VITEK 2. Generalized linear mixed models were used to infer differences in resistance profiles associated with different farming practices and facility types.Results:Resistance profiles were significantly different between broiler and layer farms. Broiler farms were 2.2 [ampicillin (AMP), p=0.017] to 23 [nalidixic acid (NX), p<0.001] times more likely to harbor resistant E. coli strains than layer farms. Adjusting for farm type (broiler vs. layer), the odds of resistance (although not statistically significant) to all antimicrobials except nitrofurantoin (NIT) were higher in independent facilities (IUs) as compared to contracted facilities (CFs). Increased prevalence of multidrug resistance (MDR; 94% compared to 60% in layers), including prevalence of ESBL-producing strains (87% compared to 42% in layers), was observed in broiler farms.Conclusions:Our findings suggest that unregulated use of clinically relevant antimicrobials in Indian broiler and layer farms may contribute to the emergence of resistance and support the need to curb the nontherapeutic use of medically important antimicrobials in food animal production. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP292

Characterization of cefotaxime resistant Escherichia coli isolated from broiler farms in Ecuador

“…The lack of this kind of data from Latin America makes this study one of 243 the few available reports that demonstrate the extent of ESBL/AmpC E. coli in 244 commercial poultry in the region [38][39][40]. Nonetheless, developed countries have also 245 reported both a high prevalence of ESBL E. coli and the presence of multiresistant 246 isolates from broiler flocks [41,42]. Similar to other studies, this research shows a higher prevalence of ESBL genes than 248 AmpC genes.…”

Variations of antibiotic resistance profiles in chickens during administration of amoxicillin, chlortetracycline and florfenicol

“…The antibiotics were supplied by Meilunbio (Dalian, China) and were subjected to weekly quality control tests using E. coli strain ATCC 25922 (Brower et al . ). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined by the agar dilution according to the protocol of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI ).…”

“…The bacteria were tested for resistance to ampicillin (AMP), doxycycline (DOX), FFC, colistin (CL), cefotaxime (CTX), gentamicin (GEN), amikacin (AMK), streptomycin (STR) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) as well as the combinations of trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole (SXT) and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (AMC). The antibiotics were supplied by Meilunbio (Dalian, China) and were subjected to weekly quality control tests using E. coli strain ATCC 25922 (Brower et al 2017). Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined by the agar dilution according to the protocol of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI 2017).…”

“…Each amplicon was ligated to plasmid pMDTM19-T (Takara) and used as positive control templates. The negative control used sterilized water instead of DNA (Brower et al 2017).…”

“…Importantly, antibiotics have been used as growth-promoting agents for livestock including poultry since the 1950's (Lekshmi et al 2017). This usage was based on empirical evidence that their inclusion in feed improved animal growth (Brown et al 2017). However, scientific evidence for an exact mechanism for this has been lacking.…”