J Vet Sci.  2016 Jun;17(2):199-206. 10.4142/jvs.2016.17.2.199.

Isolation and characterization of antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli from national horse racetracks and private horse-riding courses in Korea

• Chung YS
• Song JW
• Kim DH
• Shin S
• Park YK
• Yang SJ
• Lim SK
• Park KT
• Park YH

• KMID: 2413169
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2016.17.2.199

Abstract

Limited information is available regarding horse-associated antimicrobial resistant (AR) Escherichia (E.) coli. This study was designed to evaluate the frequency and characterize the pattern of AR E. coli from healthy horse-associated samples. A total of 143 E. coli (4.6%) were isolated from 3,078 samples collected from three national racetracks and 14 private horse-riding courses in Korea. Thirty of the E. coli isolates (21%) showed antimicrobial resistance to at least one antimicrobial agent, and four of the AR E. coli (13.3%) were defined as multi-drug resistance. Most of the AR E. coli harbored AR genes corresponding to their antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. Four of the AR E. coli carried class 1 integrase gene (intI1), a gene associated with multi-drug resistance. Pulsed-field gel electrophoretic analysis showed no genetic relatedness among AR E. coli isolated from different facilities; however, cross-transmissions between horses or horses and environments were detected in two facilities. Although cross-transmission of AR E. coli in horses and their environments was generally low, our study suggests a risk of transmission of AR bacteria between horses and humans. Further studies are needed to evaluate the risk of possible transmission of horse-associated AR bacteria to human communities through horse riders and horse-care workers.

Keyword

Escherichia coli; antimicrobial resistance; class 1 integron; cross-transmission; horse

MeSH Terms

Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents/*pharmacology
*Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli Infections/epidemiology/microbiology/*veterinary
Feces/microbiology
Horse Diseases/*epidemiology/microbiology
Horses
Phylogeny
Prevalence
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Sequence Analysis, DNA/veterinary
Anti-Bacterial Agents

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli isolates. All the genomic DNA samples were digested with XbaI followed by standard PFGE analysis (see Materials and Methods). Levels of similarity were determined using Dice coefficient (0.5% optimization, 1.0% tolerance) and the un-weighted pair group method. Individual PFGE patterns are summarized with their isolate ID, antimicrobial resistance profiles, sample sources and PFGE types. *Identification number of each E. coli isolate was given as the serial number of the sampling facility followed by the isolate number in the facility. †Antimicrobial- resistance profiles. ‡Reference strain for PFGE analysis. §Not resistant to any tested antimicrobials. TE, tetracycline; SXT, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim; AMC, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid; AM, ampicillin; CTT, cefotetan; S, streptomycin; GM, gentamicin; ATM, aztreonam.

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