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
. 2024 Mar 5;13(3):241.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics13030241.

Multidrug-Resistant Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL)-Producing Escherichia coli in a Dairy Herd: Distribution and Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles

Affiliations

Multidrug-Resistant Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL)-Producing Escherichia coli in a Dairy Herd: Distribution and Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles

Martina Penati et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

This study investigated the presence, distribution, and antimicrobial resistance profiles of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli in a dairy herd located in Northern Italy. The feces of clinically healthy calves, their mothers, and the cows treated for mastitis, as well as water, environmental samples, and waste milk were collected and subjected to bacteriological culture on CHROMagarTM ESBL plates. A questionnaire was administered to identify risk factors. The isolates were identified as E. coli by MALDI-TOF MS and subjected to the double-disk synergy test (DDST) and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay. As a result, ESBL E. coli was isolated from the feces of 28 of 37 (75.67%) calves, the feces of 2 of 3 (66.67%) treated cows, 8 of 14 (57.15%) environmental samples, and waste milk. All ESBL isolates showed multiple resistances and were categorized as multidrug-resistant (MDR). Several risk factors for ESBL E. coli selection and diffusion were identified, including lack of routine cleaning of calf feeding and housing equipment, administration of waste milk to male calves, and blanket dry cow therapy. In conclusion, this study highlighted the presence of MDR, ESBL E. coli in the feces of most dairy calves, and their association with different sample sources. Accordingly, adding to the prudent use of antibiotics, the adoption of adequate farm hygiene and biosecurity measures might also help prevent the spread and transmission of ESBL E. coli within the herd.

Keywords: ESBL E. coli; antimicrobial resistance; biosecurity; dairy calves; multidrug-resistant; waste milk.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of resistance and susceptibility of the ESBL E. coli isolates to the different antimicrobials according to the plate MIC test.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hierarchical clustering of the ESBL E. coli isolates’ MIC profiles based on Ward’s method. Female calves (F) are illustrated in red. Male calves (M) are illustrated in blue. Cows, environment, and water samples are illustrated in gold. The dotted line indicates the significant Euclidean distance cut-off point at 7.5.

References

    1. Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance in Europe 2022—2020 Data. [(accessed on 29 January 2024)]. Available online: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/antimicrobial-resistance....
    1. Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) Report: 2022. [(accessed on 29 January 2024)]. Available online: https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789240062702.
    1. Ma Z., Lee S., Jeong K.C. Mitigating Antibiotic Resistance at the Livestock-Environment Interface: A Review. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2019;29:1683–1692. doi: 10.4014/jmb.1909.09030. - DOI - PubMed
    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. European Food Safety Authority. European Medicines Agency Third Joint Inter-Agency Report on Integrated Analysis of Consumption of Antimicrobial Agents and Occurrence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria from Humans and Food-Producing Animals in the EU/EEA. EFSA J. 2021;19:e06712. doi: 10.2903/j.efsa.2021.6712. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cuong N.V., Padungtod P., Thwaites G., Carrique-Mas J.J. Antimicrobial Usage in Animal Production: A Review of the Literature with a Focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Antibiotics. 2018;7:75. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics7030075. - DOI - PMC - PubMed