Occurrence and Characteristics of ESBL- and Carbapenemase- Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> from Wild and Feral Birds in Greece

oleh: Zoi Athanasakopoulou, Celia Diezel, Sascha D. Braun, Marina Sofia, Alexios Giannakopoulos, Stefan Monecke, Dominik Gary, Domenique Krähmer, Dimitris C. Chatzopoulos, Antonia Touloudi, Periklis Birtsas, Matina Palli, Giorgos Georgakopoulos, Vassiliki Spyrou, Efthymia Petinaki, Ralf Ehricht, Charalambos Billinis

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-06-01

Deskripsi

Wild and feral birds are known to be involved in the maintenance and dissemination of clinically-important antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, such as extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae. The aim of our study was to evaluate the presence of ESBL- and carbapenemase-producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> among wild and feral birds from Greece and to describe their antimicrobial resistance characteristics. In this context, fecal samples of 362 birds were collected and cultured. Subsequently, the antimicrobial resistance pheno- and geno-type of all the obtained <i>E. coli</i> isolates were determined. A total of 12 multidrug-resistant (MDR), ESBL-producing <i>E. coli</i> were recovered from eight different wild bird species. Eleven of these isolates carried a <i>bla</i><sub>CTX-M-1</sub> group gene alone or in combination with <i>bla</i><sub>TEM</sub> and one carried only <i>bla</i><sub>TEM</sub>. AmpC, fluoroquinolone, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, aminoglycoside and macrolide resistance genes were also detected. Additionally, one carbapenemase-producing <i>E. coli</i> was identified, harboring <i>bla</i><sub>NDM</sub> along with a combination of additional resistance genes. This report describes the occurrence of ESBL- and carbapenemase-producing <i>E. coli</i> among wild avian species in Greece, emphasizing the importance of incorporating wild birds in the assessment of AMR circulation in non-clinical settings.