Biological Journal of Microorganism (Apr 2014)
An Investigation of beta-lactam antibiotics resistance in Escherichia coli isolates and molecular detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in cage birds from Shahrekord, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Cage birds can harbor human pathogens and contribute to the transmission and spread of drug resistant infectious agents to human. Since many people are interested in keeping cage birds, present study was conducted in cage birds from Shahrekord to investigate the beta-lactam antibiotics resistant E. coli and molecular detection of E. coli O157:H7 that is responsible for outbreaks of human intestinal diseases and fatal haemolytic-uraemic syndrome worldwide. Materials and methods: Altogether 256 samples of cage birds (lovebirds, quails, nightingales, parrots, mynahs, goldfinchs, finches, kingbirds, peacocks, and pheasants) faeces were collected with sterile cotton swabs from different areas of Shahrekord, Iran. Swabs were placed directly into Tryptone Soya Broth (TSB). In the laboratory, samples were streaked onto MacConkey agar and also Sorbitol MacConkey agar as selective plating media. Then, antibiogram tests were performed using disc diffusion method. Suspected colonies to E. coli O157:H7 were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: E. coli was isolated from 31 (12.1%) out of 256 the samples. Resistance of isolates to Imipenem, Cefotaxime, Cefixime, Cefalexin, Amoxicillin, Penicillin G and Oxacillin was 0, 3.2, 16.1, 90.3, 100, 100 and 100% respectively. E. coli O157:H7 was not found in any samples. Discussion and conclusion: Although cage birds were not sourcee or carriers of E. coli O157:H7 in the studied region, they harbored beta-lactam antibiotics resistant E. coli and could be an important component of drug-resistant infections transmission from cage-birds to human, especially to kids and can pose a potential risk to human health. For this reason, it is recommended to make pet birds owners and general public aware of potential dangers of cage bird keeping.
