Antimicrobial and Biocide Resistance among Canine and Feline Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii Isolates from Diagnostic Submissions.

Andrea T Feßler,Stefan Schwarz,Astrid Bethe,Christiane Weingart,Dennis Hanke,Anne-Kathrin Schink,Antina Lübke-Becker,Angela R Schug,Anissa D Scholtzek,Barbara Kohn

doi:10.3390/antibiotics11020152

Andrea T Feßler, Stefan Schwarz + Show 8 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics11020152

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Abstract

A total of 215 isolates from infections of dogs and cats, including 49 Enterococcus faecalis, 37 Enterococcus faecium, 59 Escherichia coli, 56 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and 14 Acinetobacter baumannii, were investigated for their susceptibility to 27 (Gram-positive bacteria) or 20 (Gram-negative bacteria) antimicrobial agents/combinations of antimicrobial agents by broth microdilution according to the recommendations of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Moreover, all isolates were analysed for their susceptibility to the biocides benzalkonium chloride, chlorhexidine, polyhexanide, and octenidine by a recently published broth microdilution biocide susceptibility testing method. While the E. faecalis isolates did not show expanded resistances, considerable numbers of the E. faecium isolates were resistant to penicillins, macrolides, tetracyclines, and fluoroquinolones. Even a single vancomycin-resistant isolate that carried the vanA gene cluster was detected. Expanded multiresistance phenotypes were also detected among the E. coli isolates, including a single carbapenem-resistant, blaOXA-48-positive isolate. In addition, multiresistant A. baumannii isolates were detected. The minimal inhibitory concentrations of the biocides showed unimodal distributions but differed with respect to the biocide and the bacterial species investigated. Although there were no indications of a development of biocide resistance, some P. aeruginosa isolates exhibited benzalkonium MICs higher than the highest test concentration.

Highlights

IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) of bacteria is a major public health issue
The aim of the present study was to evaluate E. faecalis, E. faecium, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and A. baumannii isolates from infections of cats and dogs for their susceptibility, to antimicrobial agents used for the control of infections caused by these bacterial pathogens, and to four different widely used biocides
Higher minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) were determined for all four cephalosporins tested (Table 1), which is in agreement with the fact that E. faecalis is considered as intrinsically resistant to cephalosporins [31]

Summary

Introduction

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of bacteria is a major public health issue. Health Organization (WHO) recognized the importance of observing trends in and preventing the development of AMR in both veterinary and human medicine to tackle therapeutic challenges [1]. Of particular interest are zoonotic pathogens, since transfer of (i) resistant bacterial isolates between humans and animals and/or (ii) resistance genes between the respective isolates are a matter of concern [2,3,4]. In the case of companion animals, such as dogs and cats, veterinarians and animal owners are at risk of acquiring multiresistant zoonotic bacterial pathogens. Previous studies have shown that there are numerous examples of dog and cat owners sharing (multi)resistant bacteria with their pets [8,9,10,11]. Enterococci, in particular Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium, and the Gram-negative species

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