Abstract
BackgroundLocomotor disorders and infections by Escherichia coli represent major concerns to the poultry industry worldwide. Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) is associated with extraintestinal infections leading to respiratory or systemic disease known as colibacillosis. The most common lesions seen in cases of colibacillosis are perihepatitis, airsacculitis, pericarditis, peritonitis/salpingitis and arthritis. These diseases are responsible for significant economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. E. coli has been recently isolated from vertebral osteomyelitis cases in Brazil and there are no data on molecular and phenotypic characteristics of E. coli strains isolated from lesions in the locomotor system of broilers. This raised the question whether specific E. coli strains could be responsible for bone lesions in broilers. The aim of this study was to assess these characteristics of E. coli strains isolated from broilers presenting vertebral osteomyelitis and arthritis in Brazil.ResultsFifteen E. coli strains from bone lesions were submitted to APEC diagnosis and setting of ECOR phylogenic group, O serogroup, flagella type, virulence genes content, genetic patterns by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST). In addition, bacterial isolates were further characterized through a lethality test, serum resistance test and antibiotic resistance profile. E. coli strains harbored different genetic pattern as assessed by PFGE, regardless of flock origin and lesion site. The strains belonged to seven sequence types (STs) previously described (ST117, ST101, ST131, ST 371 and ST3107) or newly described in this study (ST5766 and ST5856). ECOR group D (66.7 %) was the most frequently detected. The strains belonged to diverse serogroups (O88, O25, O12, and O45), some of worldwide importance. The antibiotic resistance profile confirmed strains’ diversity and revealed a high proportion of multidrug-resistant strains (73 %), mainly to quinolones and beta-lactams, including third generation cephalosporin. The percentage of resistance to tetracycline was moderate (33 %) but always associated with multidrug resistance.ConclusionsOur results demonstrated that vertebral osteomyelitis and arthritis in broilers can be associated with highly diverse E. coli based on molecular and phenotypic characteristics. There was no specific virulence patterns of the E. coli strains associated with vertebral osteomyelitis or arthritis. Also, E. coli strains were frequently multidrug resistant and belonged to STs commonly shared by APEC and human ExPEC strains.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-016-0762-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Locomotor disorders and infections by Escherichia coli represent major concerns to the poultry industry worldwide
E. coli strains were frequently multidrug resistant and belonged to sequence types (STs) commonly shared by Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) and human ExPEC strains
Epidemiological features of E. coli strains and Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) E. coli strains were isolated from eight flocks in the municipalities of Belo Horizonte, Bom Jesus de Amparo, Igarapé, Igaratinga, Itabira and São Sebastião do Oeste, all located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil
Summary
Locomotor disorders and infections by Escherichia coli represent major concerns to the poultry industry worldwide. The most common lesions seen in cases of colibacillosis are perihepatitis, airsacculitis, pericarditis, peritonitis/salpingitis and arthritis These diseases are responsible for significant economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide. APEC is associated with extraintestinal infections leading to respiratory or systemic disease known as colibacillosis These diseases are responsible for significant economic losses in the poultry industry worldwide, which may occur by decreased hatching rates, mortality, lowered production, carcass condemnation at processing and treatment costs [2]. The most common lesions associated with colibacillosis are perihepatitis, airsacculitis and pericarditis, other syndromes such as osteomyelitis, arthritis, yolk peritonitis, peritonitis/salpingitis (SPS syndrome), coligranuloma, omphalitis and cellulitis can be found [3] Another challenge to modern poultry industry is locomotor disorders, which represent a major economic and welfare problem. Staphylococcus sp. (mainly, S. aureus) was isolated from these diseases, an increase in the incidence of musculoskeletal infection associated with E. coli has been reported [5]
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