Multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli isolated from slaughtered pigs and slaughterhouse workers in Yaoundé, Cameroon
Moise Matakone,
Raspail Carrel Founou,
Luria Leslie Founou,
Brice Davy Dimani,
Patrice Landry Koudoum,
Marie Christine Fonkoua,
Yap Boum-II,
Hortense Gonsu,
Michel Noubom
Affiliations
Moise Matakone
Department of Microbiology- Haematology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
Raspail Carrel Founou
Department of Microbiology- Haematology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; Antimicrobial Resistance and Infectious Disease (ARID) Research Unit, Research Institute of the Centre of Expertise and Biological Diagnostic of Cameroon (CEDBCAM-RI), Yaoundé, Cameroon; Antimicrobial Research Unit, School of Health Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa; Cameroonian Society for Microbiology, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Corresponding author at: Department of Microbiology-Hematology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.
Luria Leslie Founou
Cameroonian Society for Microbiology, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (ReMARCH) Research Unit, Research Institute of the Centre of Expertise and Biological Diagnostic of Cameroon (CEDBCAM-RI), Yaoundé, Cameroon; Bioinformatics & Applied Machine Learning Research Unit, EDEN Biosciences Research Institute (EBRI), EDEN Foundation, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Brice Davy Dimani
Antimicrobial Resistance and Infectious Disease (ARID) Research Unit, Research Institute of the Centre of Expertise and Biological Diagnostic of Cameroon (CEDBCAM-RI), Yaoundé, Cameroon
Patrice Landry Koudoum
Department of Microbiology- Haematology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
Marie Christine Fonkoua
Cameroonian Society for Microbiology, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Centre Pasteur du Cameroun, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Yap Boum-II
Cameroonian Society for Microbiology, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Centre Pasteur de Bangui, Bangui, Central African Republic
Hortense Gonsu
Cameroonian Society for Microbiology, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, Yaoundé, Cameroon; University Teaching Hospital of Yaoundé, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Michel Noubom
Department of Microbiology- Haematology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon; Annex Regional Hospital of Dschang (ARHD), Dschang, Cameroon
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the food chain remains a global public health concern for both humans and animals. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, resistance profiles, and clonal relatedness of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extended-spectrum β-lactamases- producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) isolated from slaughtered pigs and slaughterhouse workers in Yaoundé, Cameroon.A cross-sectional study was conducted over four months, from February to May 2023 in two selected pig's slaughterhouse markets in Yaoundé. Rectal swabs were collected from 375 pigs at four time points and pooled per three according to gender, origin, and abattoirs leading to 125 pooled samples. Seven faecal samples from 60 contacted exposed workers were collected. Samples were cultured on CHROMagar™ ESBL medium, dark pink to reddish colonies were considered E. coli. Resistance genes including blaCTX-M, blaSHV and blaTEM were detected using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) while ERIC-PCR was used to assess the genetic relatedness between isolates.The prevalence of ESBL-Ec was elevated among exposed workers (71.4 %; n = 5/7) and pigs (70.4 %; n = 88/125). Overall, ESBL-Ec exhibited high resistance to cefuroxime (100 %, n = 105/105), cefotaxime (100 %, n = 105/105), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (98.1 %, n = 103/105), cefixime (92.4 %, n = 97/105), tetracycline (86.7 %, n = 91/105) and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (81.9 %, n = 86/105). However, these isolates showed good susceptibility to gentamicin (3.8 %, n = 4/105), chloramphenicol (8.6 %, n = 9/105), and fosfomycin (14.3 %, n = 15/105). All human isolates and 75.8 % (n = 75/99) of pig isolates were multi-drug resistant. The blaCTX-M was the most prevalent resistance gene among exposed workers (100 %, n = 6/6) and pigs (80.8 %, n = 80/99) followed by blaTEM (33.3 % each). High clonal relatedness of ESBL-Ec strains was observed among pig and human isolates across slaughterhouses.This study showed that the gastrointestinal tract of pigs might be an important reservoir of MDR and ESBL-Ec in Yaoundé, Cameroon and these resistant bacteria might be circulating between sources, especially humans. Heightening awareness on appropriate antibiotic use in humans and animals as well as implementing stringent biosecurity and food safety measures are imperative to prevent the emergence and spread of AMR in the country.
