Abstract
Antimicrobial agents are used in cattle production systems for the prevention and control of bacterial associated diseases. A consequence of their use is the potential development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis that are resistant to antimicrobials are of increased concern to public health officials throughout the world as they may compromise the ability of various treatment regimens to control disease and infection in human medicine. Australia is a major exporter of beef; however it does not have an ongoing surveillance system for AMR in cattle or foods derived from these animals. This study examined 910 beef cattle, 290 dairy cattle and 300 veal calf faecal samples collected at slaughter for the presence of enterococci. Enterococcus were isolated from 805 (88.5%) beef cattle faeces, 244 (84.1%) dairy cattle faeces and 247 (82.3%) veal calf faeces with a total of 800 enterococci subsequently selected for AMR testing. The results of AMR testing identified high levels of resistance to antimicrobials that are not critically or highly important to human medicine with resistance to flavomycin (80.2%) and lincomycin (85.4–94.2%) routinely observed. Conversely, resistance to antibiotics considered critically or highly important to human medicine such as tigecycline, daptomycin, vancomycin and linezolid was not present in this study. There is minimal evidence that Australian cattle production practices are responsible for disproportionate contributions to AMR development and in general resistance to antimicrobials of critical and high importance in human medicine was low regardless of the isolate source. The low level of antimicrobial resistance in Enterococcus from Australian cattle is likely to result from comprehensive controls around the use of antimicrobials in food-production animals in Australia. Nevertheless, continued monitoring of the effects of all antimicrobial use is required to support Australia’s reputation as a supplier of safe and healthy food.
Highlights
Australia produces approximately 4% of the world’s beef supply yet exports more than 70% of production making it the world’s largest beef exporter in 2015 [1]
No significant differences in prevalence were observed between the three animal groups for E. faecium
Bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobials are of increased concern to public health officials throughout the world as they may compromise the ability of treatment regimens to address disease and infection in humans
Summary
Australia produces approximately 4% of the world’s beef supply yet exports more than 70% of production making it the world’s largest beef exporter in 2015 [1]. As many classes of antimicrobials are approved for and may be used in cattle production systems there is the potential for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to develop in bacteria, including zoonotic pathogens which can be transferred to the human population via the food chain or by direct exposure to animals [2, 3]. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed and maintains criteria and ranks antimicrobials based on their importance to human medicine [7]. Such information will help regulators and stakeholders identify appropriate antimicrobials for use in food animal production systems [8]
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