Poultry and Wild Birds as a Reservoir of CMY-2 Producing Escherichia coli: The First Large-Scale Study in Greece.

Zoi Athanasakopoulou,Vassilis Diamantopoulos,Dimitris C Chatzopoulos,Spyridoula Mpellou,Antonia Touloudi,Vassilios Giannakis,Alexios Giannakopoulos,Vassiliki Spyrou,Efthymia Petinaki,Maria Satra,Dimitrios Galamatis,Marina Sofia,Katerina Tsilipounidaki,Charalambos Billinis,Ioannis Karakousis

doi:10.3390/antibiotics10030235

Abstract

Resistance mediated by β-lactamases is a globally spread menace. The aim of the present study was to determine the occurrence of Escherichia coli producing plasmid-encoded AmpC β-lactamases (pAmpC) in animals. Fecal samples from chickens (n = 159), cattle (n = 104), pigs (n = 214), and various wild bird species (n = 168), collected from different Greek regions during 2018–2020, were screened for the presence of pAmpC-encoding genes. Thirteen E. coli displaying resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and a positive AmpC confirmation test were detected. blaCMY-2 was the sole pAmpC gene identified in 12 chickens’ and 1 wild bird (Eurasian magpie) isolates and was in all cases linked to an upstream ISEcp1-like element. The isolates were classified into five different sequence types: ST131, ST117, ST155, ST429, and ST1415. Four chickens’ stains were assigned to ST131, while five chickens’ strains and the one from the Eurasian magpie belonged to ST117. Seven pAmpC isolates co-harbored genes conferring resistance to tetracyclines (tetM, tetB, tetC, tetD), 3 carried sulfonamide resistance genes (sulI and sulII), and 10 displayed mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions of gyrA (S83L+D87N) and parC (S80I+E84V). This report provides evidence of pAmpC dissemination, describing for the first time the presence of CMY-2 in chickens and wild birds from Greece.

Highlights

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a globally emergent, constantly evolving threat affecting humans, animals, and the environment, today constituting one of the greatest One Health challenges
Molecular screening for plasmid-encoded AmpC enzymes (pAmpC) encoding genes revealed that all isolates carried the CMY-2 type and no other pAmpC gene type was detected in any isolate
All strains were positive in the PCR targeting ISEcp1 – CMY, and sequencing analysis confirmed that blaCMY-2 genes were linked to an upstream ISEcp1-like element

Summary

Introduction

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a globally emergent, constantly evolving threat affecting humans, animals, and the environment, today constituting one of the greatest One Health challenges. Plasmid-encoded AmpC enzymes (pAmpC) are less prevalent than ESBL in most parts of the world, they may lead to resistance of a broader spectrum, while being harder to detect [2]. The zoonotic potential of this resistance determinant is illustrated by the detection of blaCMY-2 on related plasmids and E. coli clones in various hosts [5,6,7]. Insertion sequences, such as ISEcp, are known to play an important role in the mobilization and the spread of this gene [8,9]. Despite the well documented role of animals as reservoirs and spreaders of pAmpC, their ability to directly transmit resistant bacteria to humans remains debatable [10,18]

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