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
. 2022 Jul 25;11(8):999.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics11080999.

Multidrug-Resistant Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Diarrhoeic Calves, Milk, and Workers in Dairy Farms: A Potential Public Health Risk

Ibrahim E Eldesoukey  1 , Walid Elmonir  2 , Abdulaziz Alouffi  3 , Eman I M Beleta  4 , Mohamed A Kelany  5 , Shimaa Samir Elnahriry  6 , Mohammed Ibrahim Alghonaim  7 , Zeyad Abdullah alZeyadi  8 , Haitham Elaadli  9
Affiliations

Multidrug-Resistant Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Diarrhoeic Calves, Milk, and Workers in Dairy Farms: A Potential Public Health Risk

Ibrahim E Eldesoukey et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a leading cause of diarrhoeagenic diseases in humans and cattle worldwide. The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) EPEC from cattle sources is a public health concern. A total of 240 samples (75 diarrhoeic calves, 150 milk samples, and 15 workers) were examined for prevalence of EPEC in three dairy farms in Egypt. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) traits were determined by antibiogram and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of β-lactamase-encoding genes, plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes, and carbapenemase-encoding genes. The genetic relatedness of the isolates was assessed using repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-based PCR (REP-PCR). EPEC isolates were detected in 22.7% (17/75) of diarrhoeic calves, 5.3% (8/150) of milk samples, and 20% (3/15) of worker samples. The detected serovars were O26 (5%), O111 (3.3%), O124 (1.6%), O126 (0.8%), and O55 (0.8%). AMR-EPEC (harbouring any AMR gene) was detected in 9.2% of samples. Among isolates, blaTEM was the most detected gene (39.3%), followed by blaSHV (32.1%) and blaCTX-M-1 (25%). The qnrA, qnrB, and qnrS genes were detected in 21.4%, 10.7%, and 7.1% of isolates, respectively. The blaVIM gene was detected in 14.3% of isolates. All EPEC (100%) isolates were MDR. High resistance rates were reported for ampicillin (100%), tetracycline (89.3%), cefazolin (71%), and ciprofloxacin (64.3%). Three O26 isolates and two O111 isolates showed the highest multiple-antibiotic resistance (MAR) indices (0.85-0.92); these isolates harboured blaSHV-12 and blaCTX-M-15 genes, respectively. REP-PCR genotyping showed high genetic diversity of EPEC, although isolates belonging to the same serotype or farm were clustered together. Two worker isolates (O111 and O26) showed high genetic similarity (80-95%) with diarrhoeic calf isolates of matched serotypes/farms. This may highlight potential inter-species transmission within the farm. This study highlights the potential high risk of cattle (especially diarrhoeic calves) as disseminators of MDR-EPEC and/or their AMR genes in the study area. Prohibition of non-prescribed use of antibiotics in dairy farms in Egypt is strongly warranted.

Keywords: EPEC; Egypt; antimicrobial resistance; diarrhoeic calves; milk; worker.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
REP-PCR genotyping, virulence genes, and AMR of EPEC isolates recovered from diarrhoeic calves, milk, and workers in studied dairy farms. ■, ESBL genes; ▲, CR genes; ●, PMQR genes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency distribution of AMR genes in isolates recovered from diarrhoeic calves, milk, and workers in studied dairy farms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Trabulsi L.R., Keller R., Gomes T.A.T. Typical and Atypical Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 2002;8:508. doi: 10.3201/eid0805.010385. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gomes T.A., Irino K., Girão D.M., Girão V.B., Guth B.E., Vaz T.M., Moreira F.C., Chinarelli S.H., Vieira M.A. Emerging enteropathogenic Escherichia coli strains? Emerg. Infect. Dis. 2004;10:1851. doi: 10.3201/eid1010.031093. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hernandes R.T., Elias W.P., Vieira M.A., Gomes T.A. An overview of atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 2009;297:137–149. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2009.01664.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wani S., Bhat M., Samanta I., Nishikawa Y., Buchh A. Isolation and characterization of Shiga toxin—Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) from calves and lambs with diarrhoea in India. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 2003;37:121–126. doi: 10.1046/j.1472-765X.2003.01364.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Güler L., Gündüz K., Ok Ü. Virulence factors and antimicrobial susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolated from calves in Turkey. Zoonoses Public Health. 2008;55:249–257. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2008.01121.x. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources