Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Dec;115(12):1738-42.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.10191.

Elevated risk of carrying gentamicin-resistant Escherichia coli among U.S. poultry workers

Lance B Price  1 , Jay P Graham, Leila G Lackey, Amira Roess, Rocio Vailes, Ellen Silbergeld
Affiliations

Elevated risk of carrying gentamicin-resistant Escherichia coli among U.S. poultry workers

Lance B Price et al. Environ Health Perspect. 2007 Dec.

Abstract

Background: Antimicrobial use in food-animal production is an issue of growing concern. The application of antimicrobials for therapy, prophylaxis, and growth promotion in broiler chicken production has been associated with the emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant enteric bacteria. Although human exposure to antimicrobial-resistant bacteria through food has been examined extensively, little attention has been paid to occupational and environmental pathways of exposure.

Objective: Our objective was to measure the relative risk for colonization with antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli among poultry workers compared with community referents.

Methods: We collected stool samples and health surveys from 16 poultry workers and 33 community referents in the Delmarva region of Maryland and Virginia. E. coli was cultured from stool samples, and susceptibility to ampicillin, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, nitrofurantoin, and tetracycline was determined for each E. coli isolate. We estimated the relative risk for carrying antimicrobial-resistant E. coli among poultry workers compared with community referents.

Results: Poultry workers had 32 times the odds of carrying gentamicin-resistant E. coli compared with community referents. The poultry workers were also at significantly increased risk of carrying multidrug-resistant E. coli.

Conclusions: Occupational exposure to antimicrobial-resistant E. coli from live-animal contact in the broiler chicken industry may be an important route of entry for antimicrobial-resistant E. coli into the community.

Keywords: Escherichia coli; aminoglycoside; antibiotic; antimicrobial; chickens; gentamicin; occupational exposure; poultry; resistance; worker.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Anderson ME, Sobsey MD. Detection and occurrence of antimicrobially resistant E. coli in groundwater on or near swine farms in eastern North Carolina. Water Sci Technol. 2006;54:211–218. - PubMed
    1. Associated Press. Tyson to sell chicken free of antibiotics. The New York Times 20 June. 2007. [[accessed 21 July 2007]]. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/20/business/20tyson.html?ex=1339992000&en....
    1. Blake DP, Hillman K, Fenlon DR, Low JC. Transfer of antibiotic resistance between commensal and pathogenic members of the Enterobacteriaceae under ileal conditions. J Appl Microbiol. 2003;95:428–436. - PubMed
    1. Bonten MJ, Willems R, Weinstein RA. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci: why are they here, and where do they come from? Lancet Infect Dis. 2001;1:314–325. - PubMed
    1. Chapin A, Rule A, Gibson K, Buckley T, Schwab K. Airborne multidrug-resistant bacteria isolated from a concentrated swine feeding operation. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113:137–142. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types