From tide to table: A whole-year, coastal-wide surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli from marine bivalves

• Published in: International journal of food microbiology 2023-12, Vol.407, p.110422-110422, Article 110422
• Main Authors: Svanevik, Cecilie Smith, Norström, Madelaine, Lunestad, Bjørn Tore, Slettemeås, Jannice Schau, Urdahl, Anne Margrete
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bivalve production; Blue mussels; Faecal indicator; Food safety; Oysters; Scallops; ST131
• ISSN: 0168-1605; 1879-3460
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2023.110422

This work is the first of its kind to report a whole-year and coastal-wide surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of Escherichia coli with samples from the EU imposed Norwegian surveillance programme for marine bivalves. In total, 390 bivalve samples collected from January to December in 2016 at 59 different harvest locations, were examined. The occurrence of resistant E. coli in relation to the concentration of E. coli was also analysed. From each sample with E. coli (n = 261), one isolate was susceptibility tested against a panel of 14 antimicrobials from ten classes. The occurrence of resistance to at least one antimicrobial was 8.4 %. Resistance to tetracycline was most commonly detected (5.7 %), followed by resistance to ampicillin (4.6 %) and sulfamethoxazole (3.1 %). The occurrence of extended spectrum cephalosporin (ESC)-resistant E. coli, quinolone-resistant E. coli (QREC) and carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) were detected through selective screening in 3.3 %, 12.8 % and none of the samples, respectively. Among the ESC-resistant E. coli, the blaCTX-M-15 gene was detected in nine isolates, where two isolates also carried the blaCMY-42 gene, followed by blaCTX-M-3 in two and blaCTX-M-1 in one. One isolate was resistant to ESC due to the n.-42C>T mutation in the AmpC gene. Only the presence of QREC clustered significantly (p