Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Indicator Organisms Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. Isolated from U.S. Animal Food, 2005–2011

Beilei Ge; Kelly J. Domesle; Stuart A. Gaines; Claudia Lam; Sonya M. Bodeis Jones; Qianru Yang; Sherry L. Ayers; Patrick F. McDermott

doi:10.3390/microorganisms8071048

Microorganisms (Jul 2020)

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Indicator Organisms Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp. Isolated from U.S. Animal Food, 2005–2011

Beilei Ge,
Kelly J. Domesle,
Stuart A. Gaines,
Claudia Lam,
Sonya M. Bodeis Jones,
Qianru Yang,
Sherry L. Ayers,
Patrick F. McDermott

Affiliations

Beilei Ge: Division of Animal and Food Microbiology, Office of Research, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 8401 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA
Kelly J. Domesle: Division of Animal and Food Microbiology, Office of Research, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 8401 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA
Stuart A. Gaines: Division of Animal and Food Microbiology, Office of Research, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 8401 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA
Claudia Lam: Division of Animal and Food Microbiology, Office of Research, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 8401 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA
Sonya M. Bodeis Jones: Division of Animal and Food Microbiology, Office of Research, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 8401 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA
Qianru Yang: Division of Animal and Food Microbiology, Office of Research, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 8401 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA
Sherry L. Ayers: Division of Animal and Food Microbiology, Office of Research, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 8401 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA
Patrick F. McDermott: Division of Animal and Food Microbiology, Office of Research, Center for Veterinary Medicine, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 8401 Muirkirk Road, Laurel, MD 20708, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8071048
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8, no. 7
p. 1048

Abstract

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The role animal food plays in the introduction of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria into the human food chain is not well understood. We conducted an analysis of 1025 samples (647 pet food and 378 animal feed) collected across the United States during 2005–2011 for two indicator organisms (Escherichia coli and Enterococcus spp.). The overall prevalence ranged from 12.5% for E. coli to 45.2% for Enterococcus spp., and 11.2% of samples harbored both organisms. Regardless of bacterial genus, animal feed had significantly higher prevalence than pet food (p E. coli isolates (n = 241), resistance was highest to tetracycline (11.2%) and below 5% for fourteen other antimicrobials. Among Enterococcus spp. isolates (n = 1074), Enterococcus faecium (95.1%) was the predominant species. Resistance was most common to tetracycline (30.1%) and ciprofloxacin (10.7%), but below 10% for thirteen other antimicrobials. Multidrug-resistant organisms were observed among both E. coli and Enterococcus spp. isolates at 3.3%. Compared to National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) 2011 retail meat and animal data, the overall resistance for both organisms was much lower in animal food. These findings help establish a historic baseline for the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance among U.S. animal food products and future efforts may be needed to monitor changes over time.

Published in Microorganisms

ISSN: 2076-2607 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General)
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/microorganisms

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