Drug resistance and molecular typing characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae in meat food and diarrhea samples in a local area

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine the drug sensitivity and molecular typing characteristics of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from meat and diarrhea samples in a local area.MethodsSeventy-one strains of K.pneumoniae were isolated from 118 meat food （chicken and pork） randomly sampled in the markets in Jinshan District， Shanghai， 2020‒2021， and 1 499 diarrhea samples from outpatient diarrhoea patients in hospitals in the same district. Then drug susceptibility testing was conducted by micro-broth dilution method， and sequence identity was determined by pulsed field gel electrophoresis（PFGE）.ResultsThe overall detection rate of K.pneumoniae in meat was 11.86% （14/118）， with detection rate 20.93% （9/43） in chicken and 6.67% （5/75） in pork. The difference in detection between meats was statistically significant （χ2=5.317，P<0.05）. The detection rate of K.pneumoniae in diarrhea samples was 3.80% （57/1 499）. Furthermore， the isolated strains showed the highest resistance to ampicillin at 76.06%. The multi-drug resistant strains included 5 of human origin （8.77%） and 2 of foodborne origin （14.28%）. Additionally， 1 foodborne imipenem-resistant strain was detected. A total of 71 strains of K.pneumoniae were found to have 70 banding types， with similarity ranging from 39.4% to 100%， suggesting genetic diversity.ConclusionK.pneumoniae isolated from foodborne and diarrhea samples showed multi-drug resistance in Jinshan District， . with scattered PFGE banding patterns. It is recommended to strengthen the monitoring of this pathogen in the population and animal food， and be alert to the emerging multi-drug resistant strains and risk of food chain transmission.

Keywords

• klebsiella pneumoniae
• multi-drug resistant
• homologous
• food chain