Occurrence of Multi-Drug-Resistant Escherichia coli in Chickens, Humans, Rodents and Household Soil in Karatu, Northern Tanzania.

Valery S. Sonola,Mecky I. N. Matee,Abdul S. Katakweba,Gerald Misinzo

doi:10.3390/antibiotics10091137

Abstract

We investigated antibiotic resistance profiles of Escherichia coli among 960 samples obtained from chickens (236), humans (243), rodents (101) and soil (290). E. coli was isolated from 650 (67.7%) samples. Isolation frequency varied significantly between chickens, humans, rodents and soil samples, being 81.6%, 86.5%, 79.2% and 31.0%, respectively (p < 0.001). Resistance rates were particularly higher against imipenem (79.8%), cefotaxime (79.7%) and tetracycline (73.7%) and moderate against amoxicillin-clavulanate (49.4%). Overall, 78.8% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR) among which, 38.8%, 25.1%, 12.9% and 2.5% exhibited resistance to three, four, five and six different classes of antibiotics, respectively. Multidrug-resistant E. coli were observed in 27.7%, 30.3%, 10.8% and 10.0% of the isolates from chickens, humans, rodents and soil samples, respectively. Our results show high levels of antimicrobial resistance including MDR in E. coli isolated from chickens, humans, rodents and soil samples in Karatu, Northern Tanzania. Comprehensive interventions using a one-health approach are needed and should include improving (i) awareness of the community on judicious use of antimicrobial agents in humans and animals, (ii) house conditions and waste management and (iii) rodent control measures.

Highlights

Antibiotic resistance is currently a serious problem worldwide that threatens human, animal and environmental health [1]
We conducted this study in Karatu district in the northern zone of Tanzania to isolate and phenotypically screen for antimicrobial resistant E. coli among humans, chickens, rodents and the soil in households that keep indigenous chickens
The principal component 2 (PC2), indicated that tetracycline, imipenem, cefotaxime and amoxicillin-clavulanate were close to PC2 (Y-axis) showing higher variances compared to other drugs, which implies higher resistance rates of isolates to these drugs

Summary

Introduction

Antibiotic resistance is currently a serious problem worldwide that threatens human, animal and environmental health [1]. E. coli is a commensal microbe in humans and chickens that carries and spreads resistance genes to other pathogens [6], threatening public health. The interaction between rodents, humans, livestock and their environment in households can facilitate sharing of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes [9]. In rural areas where poultry farming is common, household soils are contaminated with higher antibiotic residues from humans and animals [10,11,12,13], leading to an increase in and spread of antibiotic resistance genes, involving contamination of the environment [14]

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion