Occurrence and Antimicrobial Resistance Traits of Escherichia coli from Wild Birds and Rodents in Singapore

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Escherichia coli (E. coli) poses a public health concern worldwide. Wild birds and rodents, due to their mobility, are potential vehicles for transmission of AMR bacteria to humans. Ninety-six wild birds’ faecal samples and 135 rodents’ droppings samples were collec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-08, Vol.17 (15), p.5606
Main Authors: Ong, Kar Hui, Khor, Wei Ching, Quek, Jing Yi, Low, Zi Xi, Arivalan, Sathish, Humaidi, Mahathir, Chua, Cliff, Seow, Kelyn L. G., Guo, Siyao, Tay, Moon Y. F., Schlundt, Joergen, Ng, Lee Ching, Aung, Kyaw Thu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antimicrobial agents
Antimicrobial resistance
Bacteria
Birds
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Drug resistance
E coli
Environmental management
Environmental monitoring
Escherichia coli
Genomes
Multidrug resistance
Polymerase chain reaction
Public health
RNA polymerase
Rodents
Wildlife
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Summary:Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Escherichia coli (E. coli) poses a public health concern worldwide. Wild birds and rodents, due to their mobility, are potential vehicles for transmission of AMR bacteria to humans. Ninety-six wild birds’ faecal samples and 135 rodents’ droppings samples were collected and analysed in 2017. Forty-six E. coli isolates from wild birds and rodents were subjected to AMR phenotypic and genotypic characterisation. The proportion of E. coli isolates resistant to at least one of the antimicrobials tested from wild birds (80.8%) was significantly higher than that of isolates from rodents (40.0%). The proportion of E. coli isolates resistant to each antimicrobial class for wild birds was 3.8% to 73.1% and that for rodents was 5.0% to 35.0%. Six out of 26 E. coli isolates from wild birds (23.1%) and two out of 20 (10.0%) isolates from rodents were multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains. These MDR E. coli isolates were detected with various antimicrobial resistance genes such as blaTEM-1B and qnrS1 and could be considered as part of the environmental resistome. Findings in this study suggested that wild birds and rodents could play a role in disseminating antimicrobial resistant E. coli, and this underscores the necessity of environment management and close monitoring on AMR bacteria in wild birds and rodents to prevent spreading of resistant organisms to other wildlife animals and humans.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph17155606