Escherichia coli Producing Extended-Spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) from Domestic Camels in the Canary Islands: A One Health Approach

Isabel Carvalho; María Teresa Tejedor-Junco; Margarita González-Martín; Juan Alberto Corbera; Vanessa Silva; Gilberto Igrejas; Carmen Torres; Patrícia Poeta

doi:10.3390/ani10081295

Escherichia coli Producing Extended-Spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) from Domestic Camels in the Canary Islands: A One Health Approach

Animals (Basel). 2020 Jul 29;10(8):1295. doi: 10.3390/ani10081295.

Authors

Isabel Carvalho^{1

2

3

4

5}, María Teresa Tejedor-Junco^{6

7}, Margarita González-Martín^{6

7}, Juan Alberto Corbera^{6

8}, Vanessa Silva^{1

2

3

4}, Gilberto Igrejas^{2

3

4}, Carmen Torres⁵, Patrícia Poeta^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Microbiology and Antibiotic Resistance Team (MicroART), Department of Veterinary Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
² Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, UTAD, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
³ Functional Genomics and Proteomics Unit, UTAD, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
⁴ Laboratory Associated for Green Chemistry (LAQV-REQUIMTE), New University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Monte da Caparica, Portugal.
⁵ Area Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of La Rioja, 26006 Logroño, Spain.
⁶ Research Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35001 Canary Islands, Spain.
⁷ Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35001 Canary Islands, Spain.
⁸ Department of Animal Pathology, Veterinary School, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35001 Canary Islands, Spain.

Abstract

Objective: This work aimed to determine the carriage rate of ESBL-producing Escherichia coli as well as their genetic characteristics in camels from the Canary Islands, Spain.

Methods: Fecal samples were recovered from 58 healthy camels from Gran Canaria (n = 32) and Fuerteventura Islands (n = 26) during July 2019. They were seeded on MacConkey (MC) agar no supplemented and supplemented (MC + CTX) with cefotaxime (2 µg/mL). Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by disk diffusion test (CLSI, 2018). The presence of bla_CTX-M, bla_SHV, bla_TEM,bla_CMY-2 and bla_OXA-1/48 genes was tested by PCR/sequencing. Furthermore, the mcr-1 (colistin resistance), tetA/tetB (tetracycline resistance), int1 (integrase of class 1 integrons) and stx_1,2 genes were analyzed. Phylogenetic groups and sequence types were determined by specific-PCR/sequencing for selected isolates.

Results: E. coli was obtained from all the 58 camels in MC media (100%) and in five of them in MC + CTX media (8.6%). Furthermore, 63.8% of E. coli isolates recovered from MC agar were susceptible to all the antibiotics tested. The five E. coli isolates recovered from MC + CTX media were characterized and two of them were ESBL-producers (3.4%). Both ESBL-producer isolates carried the bla_CTX-M-15 gene and belonged to the lineages ST3018 (phylogroup A) and ST69 (phylogroup B1). The 3 ESBL-negative isolates recovered from MC-CTX plates were ascribed to phylogroup-B₁.

Conclusions: Camels can be a source of ESBL-producer bacteria, containing the widespread bla_CTX-M-15 gene associated with the lineages ST3018 and ST69.

Keywords: Escherichia coli; antimicrobial resistance; camels; extended-spectrum β-lactamases.