Isolation and molecular characterization of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria from imported flamingos in Japan.

Maiko Sato,Hitoshi Watanabe,Ayako Noda,Yukio Fukumoto,Tadashi Shimamoto,Ashraf M Ahmed

doi:10.1186/1751-0147-51-46

Abstract

Imported animals, especially those from developing countries, may constitute a potential hazard to native animals and to public health. In this study, a new flock of lesser flamingos imported from Tanzania to Hiroshima Zoological Park were screened for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, integrons and antimicrobial resistance genes. Thirty-seven Gram-negative bacterial isolates were obtained from the flamingos. Seven isolates (18.9%) showed multidrug resistance phenotypes, the most common being against: ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and nalidixic acid. Molecular analyses identified class 1 and class 2 integrons, β-lactamase-encoding genes, blaTEM-1 and blaCTX-M-2 and the plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes, qnrS and qnrB. This study highlights the role of animal importation in the dissemination of multidrug-resistant bacteria, integrons and antimicrobial resistance genes from one country to another.

Highlights

The introduction of an exotic pathogen via imported animals has the potential to impact on all native animal species and on human health
All imported animals have to be certified as healthy and free from infectious and contagious diseases, these animals can act as carriers and reservoirs for many pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms [1]
The genes for resistance traits can be transferred among bacteria of different taxonomic and ecological groups

Summary

Introduction

The introduction of an exotic pathogen via imported animals has the potential to impact on all native animal species and on human health. Little is known about the molecular basis of resistance in MDR bacteria isolated from imported animals, this study was conducted to detect and characterize the antimicrobial resistance genes in MDR Gramnegative bacteria isolated from an imported flock of flamingos at Hiroshima Zoological Park, Japan. Similar resistance phenotypes have been previously recorded for strains of E. coli isolated from wild animals in Portugal, from free-living Canada geese in Georgia and North Carolina (USA) and from black-headed gulls in the Czech Republic [8,9,10].

Results

Conclusion