Abstract
Antimicrobial resistant enteric bacteria can easily contaminate the environment and other vehicles through the deposition of human and animal feces. In turn, humans can be exposed to these antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria through contaminated food products and/or contaminated drinking water. As wildlife are firmly established as reservoirs of AMR bacteria and serve as potential vectors in the constant spread of AMR, limiting contact between wildlife and livestock and effective tracking of AMR bacteria can help minimize AMR dissemination to humans through contaminated food and water. Enterococcus spp., which are known opportunistic pathogens, constantly found in gastrointestinal tracts of mammalian and avian species, swiftly evolve and cultivate AMR genotypes and phenotypes, which they easily distribute to other bacteria, including several major bacterial pathogens. In this study, we evaluated the use of high throughput detection and characterization of enterococci from wildlife [European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris)] by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) following culture-based isolation. MALDI-TOF MS successfully identified 658 Enterococcus spp. isolates out of 718 presumptive isolates collected from gastrointestinal tracts of European starlings, which were captured near livestock operations in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Texas; antimicrobial susceptibility testing was then performed using 13 clinically significant antibiotics.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a concerning matter which currently constitutes one of the greatest threats to human and animal health [1,2]
According to a report generated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on AMR in zoonotic and indicator bacteria, tetracycline resistance appeared in 53.7% of the EFSA E. faecium isolates and 80.15% of the EFSA E. faecalis isolates showed resistance, while 80.78% and
Evidence was presented that MALDI-TOF MS serves as a useful tool for high throughput detection of enterococci from environmental sources following culture-based isolation
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a concerning matter which currently constitutes one of the greatest threats to human and animal health [1,2]. Because of the societal inability to keep pace with the development of antimicrobial resistance, as well as the continued use and misuse of antibiotics in the medical and agricultural fields, availability of effective antimicrobial options is dwindling [1]. All of these issues call for widespread bacterial resistance monitoring programs, which survey movements of AMR strains of bacteria to and from wildlife, livestock, and humans, monitor transfer of genetic determinants between bacteria via horizontal gene transfer, and determine current levels of. European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) are commonly associated with many human and livestock pathogens and have been on the Invasive Species Specialist Group’s list “100 of the World’s Worst Invasive Alien
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