Poultry hatcheries as potential reservoirs for antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli: A risk to public health and food safety

Kamelia M Osman,Anthony D Kappell,Fatma Elmougy,Ahmed Orabi,Ihab M I Moussa,Aymen S Mubarak,Wafaa A Abd El-Ghany,Hassan A Hemeg,Hend M Y Yousef,Mohamed Elhadidy,Ashgan M Hessain,Turki M Dawoud

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23962-7

Abstract

Hatcheries have the power to spread antimicrobial resistant (AMR) pathogens through the poultry value chain because of their central position in the poultry production chain. Currently, no information is available about the presence of AMR Escherichia coli strains and the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) they harbor within hatchezries. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the possible involvement of hatcheries in harboring hemolytic AMR E. coli. Serotyping of the 65 isolated hemolytic E. coli revealed 15 serotypes with the ability to produce moderate biofilms, and shared susceptibility to cephradine and fosfomycin and resistance to spectinomycin. The most common β-lactam resistance gene was blaTEM, followed by blaOXA-1, blaMOX-like,blaCIT-like,blaSHV and blaFOX. Hierarchical clustering of E. coli isolates based on their phenotypic and genotypic profiles revealed separation of the majority of isolates from hatchlings and the hatchery environments, suggesting that hatchling and environmental isolates may have different origins. The high frequency of β-lactam resistance genes in AMR E. coli from chick hatchlings indicates that hatcheries may be a reservoir of AMR E. coli and can be a major contributor to the increased environmental burden of ARGs posing an eminent threat to poultry and human health.

Highlights

The serotyping of the 65 isolates in our study revealed several interesting aspects of the isolates
Of the 65 isolates, 28 were identified with serotypes previously associated with isolates from chicken hatcheries or pathogenic strain serotypes O1, O2, O8, O78, O119, and O126
Among the isolates in Egyptian hatcheries, we identified pathogenic E. coli serogroups, such as O1, O2, and O78, that are usually implicated in field infections[10]

Summary

Introduction

The serotyping of the 65 isolates in our study revealed several interesting aspects of the isolates. Among the isolates in Egyptian hatcheries, we identified pathogenic E. coli serogroups, such as O1, O2, and O78, that are usually implicated in field infections[10]. Three of the 65 E. coli isolates belonged to the O8 serogroup, which has been associated with hatchery losses and early chick mortality in India[11], while E. coli serotypes O119 and O126, which were serologically typed from hatchery isolates in Saudi Arabia, were isolated in the present investigation[12]. The six non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serogroups that increasingly have been associated with serious outbreaks of human infection and often referred to as “the big six”[13], O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145, were not identified in our surve

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