TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and persistence of antimicrobial resistance in broiler indicator bacteria
AU - Persoons, Davy
AU - Dewulf, Jeroen
AU - Smet, Annemieke
AU - Herman, Lieve
AU - Heyndrickx, Marc
AU - Martel, An
AU - Catry, Boudewijn
AU - Butaye, Patrick
AU - Haesebrouck, Freddy
PY - 2010
Y1 - 2010
N2 - This study explored the prevalence and persistence of acquired antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecium from healthy broilers. In 32 broiler farms, cloacal samples were taken during two production rounds, with one production round in between. For 10 of the sampled flocks, samples from the carcasses at the slaughterhouse were also collected. For E. coli, high levels of resistance were found for ampicillin, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, tetracycline, and the combination of trimethoprim and sulfonamide. Over 58% of all the isolates showed resistance to four or more antimicrobial agents. Only 4.8% were fully susceptible for all 14 drugs tested. A remarkably high resistance rate (up to 41%) to ceftiofur was found. The enterococci were frequently resistant to macrolides, tetracycline, and the combination quinopristin/dalfopristin. Over 80% displayed acquired resistance to four or more antimicrobial agents, and 3.9% were fully susceptible for the eight agents tested. Resistance was found to persist over consecutive production rounds. There was a good correlation between results obtained with cloacal samples of the live animals and caecal content samples collected in the slaughterhouse for both E. coli and E. faecium. For E. coli but not for E. faecium, the resistance profile of neck skin isolates was different from that of cloacal isolates.
AB - This study explored the prevalence and persistence of acquired antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecium from healthy broilers. In 32 broiler farms, cloacal samples were taken during two production rounds, with one production round in between. For 10 of the sampled flocks, samples from the carcasses at the slaughterhouse were also collected. For E. coli, high levels of resistance were found for ampicillin, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, tetracycline, and the combination of trimethoprim and sulfonamide. Over 58% of all the isolates showed resistance to four or more antimicrobial agents. Only 4.8% were fully susceptible for all 14 drugs tested. A remarkably high resistance rate (up to 41%) to ceftiofur was found. The enterococci were frequently resistant to macrolides, tetracycline, and the combination quinopristin/dalfopristin. Over 80% displayed acquired resistance to four or more antimicrobial agents, and 3.9% were fully susceptible for the eight agents tested. Resistance was found to persist over consecutive production rounds. There was a good correlation between results obtained with cloacal samples of the live animals and caecal content samples collected in the slaughterhouse for both E. coli and E. faecium. For E. coli but not for E. faecium, the resistance profile of neck skin isolates was different from that of cloacal isolates.
KW - Animals
KW - Anti-Bacterial Agents
KW - Bird Diseases
KW - Chickens
KW - Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial
KW - Enterococcus faecium
KW - Escherichia coli
KW - Escherichia coli Infections
KW - Food Microbiology
KW - Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections
KW - Microbial Sensitivity Tests
KW - Poultry Products
KW - Prevalence
U2 - 10.1089/mdr.2009.0062
DO - 10.1089/mdr.2009.0062
M3 - A1: Web of Science-article
C2 - 19958160
VL - 16
SP - 67
EP - 74
JO - Microbial Drug Resistance
JF - Microbial Drug Resistance
SN - 1931-8448
IS - 1
ER -