High prevalence of virulence genes and multi-drug resistance in Pasteurella multocida from goats in Sichuan, China

Pasteurella multocida is one of the most important pathogens that infect goats, causing serious economic losses in the goat breeding industry. To understand the biological characteristics of P. multocida from goats, a comprehensive characterization of bacteria isolated from 342 nasal swabs and 8 lung tissue samples from goat farms in Sichuan, China, was performed. A total of 34 isolates were assigned to one capsular type, D, and one lipopolysaccharide (LPS) genotype, L3, indicating that the D: L3 was the predominant serotype in goat farms. In the 34 isolates, multiple virulence-related genes were identified, with a detection rate of 100 % (34/34) for the genes ompA, ompH, oma87, exbB, and exbD. It is noteworthy that the prevalence of the toxA gene, which encodes the P. multocida toxin (PMT), was found to be 85.2 % (29/34). Furthermore, antimicrobial susceptibility testing indicated a high prevalence of multidrug resistance, with resistance rates of 41.1 % for ampicillin, 38.2 % for tetracycline, and 32.3 % for kanamycin. Overall, this study provides a foundational understanding of the epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance of P. multocida in goats, offering insights for future prevention and control measures.