Publication Date:
2014-01-01
Description:
Avian PathogenicEscherichia coli(APEC) has been studied for decades because of its economic impact on the poultry industry. Recently, the zoonotic potential of APEC and multidrug-resistant strains have emerged. The aim of this study was to characterize 225 APEC isolated from turkeys presenting airsacculitis. The results showed that 92% of strains presented a multidrug-resistance (MDR), and the highest levels of resistance were to sulfamethazine (94%) and tetracycline (83%). Half of these strains were classified in phylogenetic group B2, followed by B1 (28.6%), A (17.1%), and D (4.8%). The prevalence of virulence genes was as follows: salmochelin (iroN,95%), increased serum survival (iss,93%), colicin V (cvi/cva,67%), aerobactin (iucD,67%), temperature-sensitive haemagglutinin (tsh,56%), iron-repressible protein (irp2,51%), invasion brain endothelium (ibeA,31%), vacuolating autotransporter toxin (vat,24%), K1 antigen (neuS,19%), enteroaggregative heat-stable cytotoxin (astA,17%), and pilus associated with pyelonephritis (papC,15%). These results demonstrate that the majority of the investigated strains belonged to group B2 and were MDR. These data suggest that turkeys may serve as a reservoir of pathogenic and multidrug-resistance strains, reinforcing the idea that poultry plays a role in the epidemiological chain of ExPEC.
Print ISSN:
2356-6140
Electronic ISSN:
1537-744X
Topics:
Natural Sciences in General
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