Traces of pandemic fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli clone ST131 transmitted from human society to aquatic environments and wildlife in Japan
Toyotaka Sato,
Kojiro Uemura,
Mitsuru Yasuda,
Aiko Maeda,
Toshifumi Minamoto,
Kazuki Harada,
Michiyo Sugiyama,
Shiori Ikushima,
Shin-ichi Yokota,
Motohiro Horiuchi,
Satoshi Takahashi,
Testuo Asai
Affiliations
Toyotaka Sato
Laboratory of Veterinary Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan; Graduate School of Infectious Diseases, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan; One Health Research Center, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
Kojiro Uemura
Department of Microbiology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
Mitsuru Yasuda
Department of Infection Control and Laboratory Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
Aiko Maeda
Laboratory of Veterinary Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan; Graduate School of Infectious Diseases, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
Toshifumi Minamoto
Department of Human Environmental Science, Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan
Kazuki Harada
Joint Department of Veterinary Medicine, Tottori University, Tottori, Japan
Michiyo Sugiyama
The United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
Shiori Ikushima
The United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan
Shin-ichi Yokota
Department of Microbiology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan
Motohiro Horiuchi
Laboratory of Veterinary Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan; Graduate School of Infectious Diseases, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan; One Health Research Center, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
Satoshi Takahashi
Department of Infection Control and Laboratory Medicine, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan; Division of Laboratory Medicine, Sapporo Medical University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan
Testuo Asai
The United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan; Corresponding author at: The United Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
Transmission of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria among humans, animals, and the environment is a growing concern worldwide. The distribution of an international high-risk fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli clone, ST131, has been documented in clinical settings. However, the transmission of ST131 from humans to surrounding environments remains poorly elucidated. To comprehend the current situation and identify the source of ST131 in nature, we analyzed the genetic features of ST131 isolates from the aquatic environment (lake/river water) and wildlife (fox, raccoon, raccoon dog, and deer) and compared them with the features of isolates from humans in Japan using accessory and core genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analyses. We identified ST131 isolates belonging to the same phylotype and genome clusters (four of eight clusters were concomitant) with low SNP distance between the human isolates and those from the aquatic environment and wildlife. These findings warn of ST131 transmission between humans and the surrounding environment in Japan.
