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. 2016 Oct 21:7:1671.
doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01671. eCollection 2016.

Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Autochthonous Aquatic Vibrio cholerae in Haiti

Sandrine Baron  1 , Jean Lesne  1 , Eric Jouy  1 , Emeline Larvor  1 , Isabelle Kempf  1 , Jacques Boncy  2 , Stanilas Rebaudet  3 , Renaud Piarroux  3
Affiliations

Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Autochthonous Aquatic Vibrio cholerae in Haiti

Sandrine Baron et al. Front Microbiol. .

Abstract

We investigated the antimicrobial susceptibility of 50 environmental isolates of Vibrio cholerae non-O1/non-O139 collected in surface waters in Haiti in July 2012, during an active cholera outbreak. A panel of 16 antibiotics was tested on the isolates using the disk diffusion method and PCR detection of seven resistance-associated genes (strA/B, sul1/2, ermA/B, and mefA). All isolates were susceptible to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, cefotaxime, imipenem, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin, amikacin, and gentamicin. Nearly a quarter (22.0%) of the isolates were susceptible to all 16 antimicrobials tested and only 8.0% of the isolates (n = 4) were multidrug-resistant. The highest proportions of resistant isolates were observed for sulfonamide (70.0%), amoxicillin (12.0%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (10.0%). One strain was resistant to erythromycin and one to doxycycline, two antibiotics used to treat cholera in Haiti. Among the 50 isolates, 78% possessed at least two resistance-associated genes, and the genes sul1, ermA, and strB were detected in all four multidrug-resistant isolates. Our results clearly indicate that the autochthonous population of V. cholerae non-O1/non-O139 found in surface waters in Haiti shows antimicrobial patterns different from that of the outbreak strain. The presence in the Haitian aquatic environment of V. cholerae non-O1/non-O139 with reduced susceptibility or resistance to antibiotics used in human medicine may constitute a mild public health threat.

Keywords: Haiti; Vibrio cholerae non-O1/non-O139; antimicrobial resistance; aquatic environment; cholera.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of diffusion zone diameters: (A) erythromycin (15 μg); (B) doxycycline (30 μg).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of resistance profiles in V. cholerae non-O1/non-O139 isolates. The number of isolates for each resistance profile is indicated in brackets, and isolate identity is indicated only for the four multidrug-resistant strains. AM, Ampicillin; C, chloramphenicol; NA, nalidixic acid; STR, streptomycin; TET, tetracycline; DO, doxycycline; SSS, sulfonamide; SXT, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole; ERY, erythromycin. SXT and SSS belong to the class of folate inhibitor pathway and DO and TET to the tetracycline class.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of the profiles of resistance-associated genes in the 50 V. cholerae non-O1/non-O139 isolates.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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