β-Lactamase Producing Escherichia coli Encoding blaCTX-M and blaCMY Genes in Chicken Carcasses from Egypt

Elham Elsayed Abo-Almagd; Rana Fahmi Sabala; Samir Mohammed Abd-Elghany; Charlene R Jackson; Hazem Ramadan; Kálmán Imre; Adriana Morar; Viorel Herman; Khalid Ibrahim Sallam

doi:10.3390/foods12030598

β-Lactamase Producing Escherichia coli Encoding bla_CTX-M and bla_CMY Genes in Chicken Carcasses from Egypt

Foods. 2023 Feb 1;12(3):598. doi: 10.3390/foods12030598.

Authors

Elham Elsayed Abo-Almagd¹, Rana Fahmi Sabala², Samir Mohammed Abd-Elghany², Charlene R Jackson³, Hazem Ramadan⁴, Kálmán Imre⁵, Adriana Morar⁵, Viorel Herman⁶, Khalid Ibrahim Sallam²

Affiliations

¹ Oncology Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
² Food Hygiene and Control Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
³ Bacterial Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance Research Unit, US National Poultry Research Center, USDA-ARS, Athens, GA 30605, USA.
⁴ Hygiene and Zoonoses Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Animal Production and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences "King Mihai I" from Timișoara, 300645 Timișoara, Romania.
⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences "King Mihai I" from Timişoara, 300645 Timișoara, Romania.

Abstract

Escherichia coli with multidrug resistance and β-lactamase genes may constitute a great public health hazard due to the potential for their transmission to humans through the food chain. This study determined the prevalence, antibiotic resistance profiles, phylogroups, and β-lactamase genes of E. coli isolates from chicken carcasses marketed in Mansoura, Egypt. Interestingly, E. coli was detected in 98% (98/100) of the chicken carcasses examined, which seemed among the highest contamination rates by E. coli worldwide. From the 425 genetically verified uidA gene-positive E. coli, 85 isolates were further studied for antimicrobial resistance profiles, phylogroups, and β-lactamase genes. Interestingly, 89.41% of E. coli (76/85) strains tested against 24 different antibiotics were multidrug-resistant. Of the examined 85 E. coli isolates, 22 (25.88%) isolates harbored bla_CTX-M and were resistant to ampicillin, cefazoline, and ceftriaxone, while three of them were resistant to ceftazidime besides. Nine (10.59%) E. coli strains harbored AmpC- β-lactamase bla_CMY and were resistant to ampicillin. One isolate co-carried bla_CMY and bla_CTX-M genes, though it was negative for the bla_TEM gene. Of the 35 isolates that harbored either extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and/or AmpC β-lactamase genes, six strains (17.14%) were assigned to pathogenic phylogroup F and one to phylogroup E, whereas 28 (80%) isolates belonged to commensal phylogenetic groups.

Keywords: E. coli; chicken carcasses; multidrug resistance; phylogroups; β-lactamase.

Grants and funding

This research paper is supported by the project “Increasing the impact of excellence research on the capacity for innovation and technology transfer within USAMVB Timis, oara” code 6PFE, submitted in the competition Program 1—Development of the national system of research—development, Subprogram 1.2—Institutional performance, Institutional development projects—Development projects of excellence in RDI.