Abstract
Streptococcus suis infections are an emerging zoonotic agent causing severe disease in humans and a major pig pathogen worldwide. We investigated the colonization of S.suis in healthy chickens in different flocks (n=59) as well as in-contact pigs in farms with S.suis-positive chickens (n=44) in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. Streptococcus suis was isolated from 20 (33.9%) chicken flocks and from all pigs investigated. Chicken isolates formed a distinct genotypic cluster compared with pig and human strains, although two chicken isolates (10%) clustered with pig isolates. Chicken isolates had unusually high levels of resistance against tetracycline (100%), clindamycin (100%) and erythromycin (95%); and intermediate resistance against penicillin (35%) and ceftriaxone (15%). Our findings suggest that chickens may potentially represent a source of S.suis infection to in-contact humans and pigs.
Highlights
Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is a global pathogen of pigs, and an major zoonotic pathogen that causes severe human disease
The occurrence of anti-microbial resistance (AMR) in S. suis is of additional concern, since it may jeopardize the treatment of severe human infections (Varelaet al., 2013)
The prevalence of AMR in chickens was higher than observed in human patients, notably with regard to penicillin, ceftriaxone, erythromycin and clindamycin, which is of concern, given that β-lactams are currently the most effective anti-microbials to treat human infections (Dutkiewicz et al, 2017)
Summary
Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is a global pathogen of pigs, and an major zoonotic pathogen that causes severe human disease. In Vietnam, there are ~317 million chickens and small-scale chicken farming is practised in about eight million households (Desvaux, Ton, Hang, & Hoa, 2008). Many such farms raise pigs, and often birds are unconfined, allowing frequent inter-species contact, as well as contact between animals (and their excreta) and humans. While a number of studies have reported S. suis in pig and pork products in Vietnam (Hoa et al, 2013; Huong et al, 2014; Ngo et al, 2011), no studies have to date investigated the role of the chicken species as a reservoir of this organism. The aims of this study were (a) to investigate the prevalence of S. suis in chickens and its potential association with pigs; and (b) to characterize phenotypic AMR profile and potential association with anti-microbial use (AMU) in the same flocks
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