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. 2012 May;18(5):741-9.
doi: 10.3201/eid1805.111153.

Antimicrobial drug resistance in Escherichia coli from humans and food animals, United States, 1950-2002

Daniel A Tadesse  1 , Shaohua Zhao, Emily Tong, Sherry Ayers, Aparna Singh, Mary J Bartholomew, Patrick F McDermott
Affiliations

Antimicrobial drug resistance in Escherichia coli from humans and food animals, United States, 1950-2002

Daniel A Tadesse et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2012 May.

Abstract

We conducted a retrospective study of Escherichia coli isolates recovered from human and food animal samples during 1950-2002 to assess historical changes in antimicrobial drug resistance. A total of 1,729 E. coli isolates (983 from humans, 323 from cattle, 138 from chickens, and 285 from pigs) were tested for susceptibility to 15 antimicrobial drugs. A significant upward trend in resistance was observed for ampicillin (p<0.001), sulfonamide (p<0.001), and tetracycline (p<0.001). Animal strains showed increased resistance to 11/15 antimicrobial agents, including ampicillin (p<0.001), sulfonamide (p<0.01), and gentamicin (p<0.001). Multidrug resistance (≥3 antimicrobial drug classes) in E. coli increased from 7.2% during the 1950s to 63.6% during the 2000s. The most frequent co-resistant phenotype observed was to tetracycline and streptomycin (29.7%), followed by tetracycline and sulfonamide (29.0%). These data describe the evolution of resistance after introduction of new antimicrobial agents into clinical medicine and help explain the range of resistance in modern E. coli isolates.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Change in antimicrobial drug resistance patterns among Escherichia coli isolates, United States, 1950–2002.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of multidrug resistance patterns among Escherichia coli isolates recovered from different sources, United States, 1950–2002.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trend analysis of selected antimicrobial agents among Escherichia coli isolates from humans (A) and animals (B), United States, 1950–2002. AMP-R, ampicillin resistance; STR-R, streptomycin resistance; TET-R, tetracycline resistance.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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