Temporal Trends in Antimicrobial Resistance of Fecal Escherichia coli from Deer

In this study, we characterize the phenotypic resistance of commensalEscherichia coli from fecal samples of 879 individual white-tailed (Odocoileus virginianus; WTD) over a ten-year period and analyze resistance patterns. Our results show commensalE. coli from WTD had significant linear increases in reduced susceptibility to 5 of 12 antimicrobials, including broad-spectrum cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones, from 2006 to 2016. In addition, the relative frequency distribution of minimal inhibitory concentrations of two additional antimicrobials shifted towards higher values from across the study period. The prevalence of multidrug-resistant commensalE. coli increased over the study period with a prevalence of 0%, 2.2%, and 3.7% in 2006, 2012, and 2016, respectively. WTD may be persistently and increasingly exposed to antibiotics or their residues, ARB, and/or antimicrobial resistance genes via contaminated environments like surface water receiving treated wastewater effluent.
Source: EcoHealth - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research