Antibiotic susceptibility and molecular typing of Enterococcus faecalis from retail pork meat products in Korea

Quantification of antimicrobial use in Fijian livestock farms

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major threat to humans and animals globally. Antimicrobial stewardship has been acknowledged as a primary strategy to tackle AMR. An important first step for antimicrobial stewardship is to quantify antimicrobial use (AMU). In Fiji, there are currently no data on AMU in livestock farms. This study aimed to quantify AMU in different livestock enterprises (beef, dairy, broiler, and layer) and farming systems (backyard, semi-commercial and commercial) in Central and Western divisions of Viti Levu, Fiji. A survey with 210 livestock farmers and 26 managers representing 276 enterprises was conducted between May and September 2019. The difference in AMU between different livestock enterprises and farming systems was investigated using ANOVA. In Fiji, the estimated annual antibiotic use in livestock was lower than the global average (44 compared with 118 mg/PCU). However, this use was concentrated in 56% of participant farms (the remaining 44% did not use antimicrobials). Total estimated quarterly anthelmintic use (20,797 mg) was not affected by farming systems but was highest (P < 0.001) in dairy enterprises (24,120 mg) and lowest in broiler enterprises (4 mg). Quarterly antibiotic use was different between the enterprises regardless of the metrics used to quantify the use (P < 0.05). Total estimated quarterly mg/PCU of antibiotic use was highest (P < 0.001) in broiler enterprises (12.4 mg/PCU) and lowest in beef enterprises (0.2 mg/PCU). For all other ESVAC metrics, total estimated antibiotic use was higher in poultry and lower in cattle enterprises. Backyard systems used less antibiotics (total mg) than commercial systems, but for other metrics, the trend was reversed. The use of both antibiotics and anthelmintics (rather than antibiotics or anthelmintics alone, or no AMU) was associated with dairy enterprises (Χ2 = 123, P < 0.001). Further studies should be conducted to quantify and evaluate the drivers of AMU in Fijian livestock farms. In addition, differences in AMU between different enterprises and farming systems suggest that strategies to reduce AMU should be tailored to specific settings.

Global Prevalence of Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci in Food of Animal Origin: A Meta-Analysis

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are a leading cause of nosocomial infections in patients worldwide. VRE contamination in food of animal origin may create a risk for human health. This study was conducted to estimate the pooled prevalence of VRE in food of animal origin worldwide, to assess the result heterogeneity, and to determine cumulative evidence and the trend of the prevalence over time. Relevant studies were retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled prevalence of VRE in food of animal origin. Subgroup meta-analysis was used to assess the heterogeneity of the results. A cumulative meta-analysis and meta-regression were conducted to determine cumulative evidence and the trend of the prevalence of VRE in food of animal origin over time, respectively. Of the 1352 retrieved studies, 50 articles were included. The pooled prevalence of VRE in food of animal origin was 11.7% (95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 8.4 to 16.0). Subgroup meta-analyses showed a significant difference in the prevalence of VRE for two characteristics. First, for the source of food, the prevalence of VRE was highest in aquatic food (43.4% [95% CI = 28.4 to 59.7]) and lowest in dairy food (4.1% [95% CI = 1.7 to 9.8]). Second, for continents, the prevalence of VRE was highest in Africa (18.5% [95% CI = 12.8 to 26.1]) and lowest in North America (0.3% [95% CI = 0.1 to 1.1]). Cumulative evidence showed two distinct features in two different periods. The pooled prevalence of VRE rapidly decreased from 79.3% in 1998 to 13.1% in 2003; it has slightly fluctuated between 10.5% and 20.5% since 2004. The results of the meta-regression indicated that the prevalence gradually decreased over time. In conclusion, the estimate of overall VRE prevalence worldwide in food of animal origin was ∼12%, indicating the burden of VRE contamination in food of animal origin.

Occurrence, Antimicrobial Resistance and Molecular Diversity of Enterococcus faecium in Processed Pork Meat Products in Korea

Because Enterococcus faecium is an important nosocomial pathogen and sentinel organism for tracking antimicrobial resistance, information on the contamination and antimicrobial resistance patterns of E. faecium in food are essential to public health and food safety. We analyzed the occurrence of E. faecium in retail pork meat products (n = 124), and antimicrobial resistance of 30 E. faecium isolates were examined against 14 antimicrobials using the broth dilution test and disc diffusion test. Rep-PCR-based molecular diversity was also analyzed using Deviersilab. The highest contamination of enterococci was observed for minced pork meat but most of the E. faecium was isolated from meatball-type frozen pork meat products (FP). Incidences of antimicrobial-resistant E. faecium against erythromycin, clindamycin and nitrofurantoin were 80%, 50% and 20%, respectively. No vancomycin-resistant enterococci were analyzed. Rep-PCR showed distinctive clusters with a similarity ≥ 98%, consisting of 18 E. faecium isolates from FP manufactured in seven companies. The analyzed data on the contamination and antimicrobial resistance patterns combined with molecular typing can be useful to derive risk management of antimicrobial-resistant enterococci in food.