Prevalence, Population Structure and Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Ceftiofur Resistant Enterobacteriaceae from Chicken Meat and Fish

Abstract

Few studies have been conducted to investigate the influence of extensive use of ceftiofur by veterinarians on the spread of antibiotic resistant Enterobacteriaceae in food of animal origin. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of ceftiofur resistant Enterobacteriaceae in retail chicken meat and fish samples. A total of 80 samples, 40 each of chicken thigh and Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ) fish samples were analyzed by enrichment in Enterobacteriaceae enrichment broth containing ceftiofur (8 µg/ml) and plated on violet red bile glucose agar plates with ceftiofur (8 µg/ml). 87.5% of chicken meat samples and 80% of fish samples had ceftiofur-resistant Enterobacteriaceae . The majority of ceftiofur resistant isolates recovered from chicken meat exhibited multidrug resistance characteristics with higher resistance rates to ceftiofur (100%), ceftriaxone (97.5%), cefepime (97.5%), cefotaxime (95%), than ceftazidime (47.5%). Ten antibiotic resistance patterns were identified from chicken meat and fish isolates. Similarly, all isolated strains from fish showed resistance to ceftiofur, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, and oxytetracycline and most strains (95.6%) were resistant to cefepime. Interestingly, 8.7% of fish isolates showed resistance to meropenem. In conclusion, the high prevalence of ceftiofur resistant Enterobacteriaceae reported in this study raise serious concerns about the public health and safety of retail fish and chicken meat, which might serve as a reservoir for these multidrug-resistant germs and could be passed on to humans via the food chain. Under One Health perspective, the monitoring and surveillance of fish and poultry should be encouraged to better control antimicrobial resistance.