Comparison of Antimicrobial Resistance, Virulence Genes, Phylogroups, and Biofilm Formation of Escherichia coli Isolated From Intensive Farming and Free-Range Sheep

Phylogenetic group, antibiotic resistance, virulence gene, and genetic diversity of Escherichia coli causing bloodstream infections in Iran

Escherichia coli is one of the most important pathogens causing bloodstream infections (BSIs) throughout the world. We sought to characterize the phylogroup classification, major human sequence types (STs), antimicrobial resistance, presence of selected antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes, and genetic diversity of E. coli isolated from patients with BSIs at the University Hospital in Iran. A total of 100 E. coli bloodstream isolates were collected between December 2020 and June 2022. This study used PCR to investigate phylogenetic groups (A, B1, B2, C, D, E, and F), four major STs (ST69, ST73, ST95, and ST131), antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), virulence-associated genes (VAGs), and pathogenicity islands (PAIs). Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done by disk diffusion method. Genetic diversity was analyzed by repetitive element sequence-based PCR (REP-PCR). The phylogenetic group B2 (32%) predominated, followed by phylogenetic group E (25%). ST131 (28%) was the most prevalent ST and the majority of these isolates (89.3%) were of serotype O25b. Most of E. coli isolates (75%) were categorized as multidrug resistant (MDR) with high rates of resistance (>55%) to ampicillin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, cefazolin, and ceftriaxone. The most frequent ARGs were bla TEM (66%), sul1 (57%), and sul2 (51%). The most prevalent VAGs and PAIs were fimH (type 1 fimbriae adhesin; 85%), aer (iucC) (aerobactin; 79%), traT (serum resistance; 77%), iutA (aerobactin siderophore receptor; 69%), and PAI IV536 (75%), respectively. The highest rate of ARGs and VAGs was observed in the ST131 isolates. REP-PCR analysis showed high diversity among the studied isolates. The high prevalence of MDR septicemic E. coli with different types of ARGs, VAGs and genotypes is an extremely worrisome sign of BSIs treatment and poses a major threat for hospitalized patients. Active surveillance, stringent prescribing policies, increasing the awareness of ARGs among clinicians and re-defining the infection control measures are essential to curb the dissemination of these strains.

Investigation of antibiotic resistance, virulence genes, and biofilm formation of Escherichia coli isolated from sheep feces in Shiraz industrial slaughterhouse, South of Iran

Background

With the increase in human population, the consumption of livestock products such as sheep meat has also increased. Sheep are the reservoir and shedder of Escherichia coli that can be transmitted to humans. Aims: Characterization of fecal E. coli isolated from sheep in slaughterhouse.

Methods

Stool specimens were collected from 30 apparently healthy sheep from different flocks in Shiraz industrial slaughterhouse. The resistance of E. coli isolates against 10 antibiotics was determined by disk diffusion method. The presence of three major extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) genes and five tetracycline resistance genes as well as seven virulence genes were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Using the microtiter plate method, the biofilm formation ability of E. coli isolates was investigated.

Results

The highest frequency of resistance was to amoxicillin (100%) followed by tetracycline (25%). All E. coli isolates were susceptible to gentamicin and nitrofurantoin, and only one isolate was resistant to the tested third-generation cephalosporins. Multidrug resistance phenotype was observed in 16.7% of the isolates. bla TEM (25%) was the most prevalent ESBL gene and tetA (62.5%) was the most prevalent tetracycline resistance gene in the isolates. crl, csgA, fimH, and bcsA genes were present in all isolates, and the prevalence of papC and afa genes was 95.8% and 83.3%, respectively. In total, 62.5% of the isolates were biofilm producers.

Conclusion

According to the concept of One Health, the presence of virulent antibiotic-resistant biofilm producing strains of E. coli in sheep is a risk to public health.

Molecular Characterization of Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Escherichia coli in Dairy Goat Kids with Diarrhea in Partial Regions of Shaanxi Province, China

Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Escherichia coli are important diarrheal pathogens threatening the health of humans and various animals. Goats, especially pre-weaned goat kids, that carry these pathogens are important reservoirs related to human infection. In the present study, PCR-based sequencing techniques were applied to characterize Cryptosporidium spp., G. duodenalis, E. bieneusi and E. coli in 202 fecal samples of diarrheal kids for Guanzhong dairy goats from five locations in Shaanxi Province. The positive rates of Cryptosporidium spp., G. duodenalis, E. bieneusi and E. coli were 37.6% (76/202), 16.3% (33/202), 55.4% (112/202) and 78.7% (159/202) in these goat kids, respectively. Co-infection of two to four pathogens was found in 114 of 202 fecal samples. Significant differences (p < 0.001) in the positive rates of Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis were found among locations and age groups. Furthermore, two Cryptosporidium species (C. parvum and C. xiaoi), two G. duodenalis assemblages (E and A), nine E. bieneusi genotypes (CHG3, CHG1, BEB6, CHG5, CHG2, SX1, CHG28, COS-II and CD6) and two E. coli pathotypes (EPEC and EHEC) were identified. As for Cryptosporidium, two (IIdA19G1 and IIdA19G2) and two (XXIIIa and XXIIIg) subtypes were recognized in samples positive for C. parvum and C. xiaoi, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis based on the ITS locus of E. bieneusi indicated that all nine genotypes of E. bieneusi identified in this study belonged to the group 2. Four virulence factors (ehxA, eae, stx2 and stx1) of EPEC and EHEC were found in E. coli strains. Collectively, this study explored the colonization frequency of Cryptosporidium spp., G. duodenalis, E. bieneusi and E. coli in diarrheal kids of Guanzhong dairy goats in Shaanxi Province and expanded our understanding of the genetic composition and zoonotic potential of these pathogens in goats.

The emergence of multi-drug resistant and virulence gene carrying Escherichia coli strains in the dairy environment: a rising threat to the environment, animal, and public health

Escherichia coli is a common inhabitant of the intestinal microbiota and is responsible for udder infection in dairy cattle and gastro-urinary tract infections in humans. We isolated E. coli strains from a dairy farm environment in Xinjiang, China, and investigated their epidemiological characteristics, phenotypic and genotypic resistance to antimicrobials, virulence-associated genes, and phylogenetic relationship. A total of 209 samples were collected from different sources (feces, slurry, water, milk, soil) and cultured on differential and selective agar media (MAC and EMB). The presumptive identification was done by the VITEK2 system and confirmed by 16S rRNA gene amplification by PCR. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was done by micro-dilution assay, and genomic characterization was done by simple and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 338 E. coli strains were identified from 141/209 (67.5%) of the samples. Most of the E. coli strains were resistant to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (62.43%), followed by cefotaxime (44.08%), ampicillin (33.73%), ciprofloxacin (31.36%), tetracycline (28.99%), and a lesser extent to florfenicol (7.99%), gentamicin (4.44%), amikacin (1.77%), and fosfomycin (1.18%). All of the strains were susceptible to meropenem, tigecycline, and colistin sulfate. Among the resistant strains, 44.4% were identified as multi-drug resistant (MDR) showing resistance to at least one antibiotic from ≥3 classes of antibiotics. Eighteen out of 20 antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) were detected with sul2 (67.3%), blaTEM (56.3%), gyrA (73.6%), tet(B) (70.4%), aph(3)-I (85.7%), floR (44.4%), and fosA3 (100%, 1/1) being the predominant genes among different classes of antibiotics. Among the virulence-associated genes (VAGs), ompA was the most prevalent (86.69%) followed by ibeB (85.0%), traT (84.91%), ompT (73.96%), fyuA (23.1%), iroN (23.1%), and irp2 gene (21.9%). Most of the E. coli strains were classified under phylogenetic group B1 (75.45%), followed by A (18.34%), C (2.96%), D (1.18%), E (1.18%), and F (0.30%). The present study identified MDR E. coli strains carrying widely distributed ARGs and VAGs from the dairy environment. The findings suggested that the dairy farm environment may serve as a source of mastitis-causing pathogens in animals and horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes carrying bacterial strains to humans via contaminated milk and meat, surface water and agricultural crops.

Virulence-related factors and antimicrobial resistance in Proteus mirabilis isolated from domestic and stray dogs

Introduction

Proteus mirabilis is a multi-host pathogen that causes diseases of varying severity in a wide range of mammals, including humans. Proteus mirabilis is resistant to multiple antibiotics and has acquired the ability to produce expanded spectrum of β-lactamases, leading to serious public health problems. However, the available information on P. mirabilis isolated from feces of dogs, is still poorly understood, as is the correlation between its virulence-associated genes (VAGs) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs).

Method

In this study, we isolated 75 strains of P. mirabilis from 241 samples, and investigated the swarming motility, biofilm formation, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), distribution of VAGs and ARGs, as well as the presence of class 1, 2, and 3 integrons in these isolates.

Results

Our findings suggest a high prevalence of intensive swarming motility and strong biofilm formation ability among P. mirabilis isolates. Isolates were primarily resistant to cefazolin (70.67%) and imipenem (70.67%). These isolates were found to carry ureC, FliL, ireA, zapA, ptA, hpmA, hpmB, pmfA, rsbA, mrpA, and ucaA with varying prevalence levels of 100.00, 100.00, 100.00, 98.67, 98.67, 90.67, 90.67, 90.67, 90.67, 89.33, and 70.67%, respectively. Additionally, the isolates were found to carry aac(6')-Ib, qnrD, floR, bla_CTX-M, bla_CTX-M-2, bla_OXA-1, bla_TEM, tetA, tetB and tetM with varying prevalence levels of 38.67, 32.00, 25.33, 17.33, 16.00, 10.67, 5.33, 2.67, 1.33, and 1.33%, respectively. Among 40 MDR strains, 14 (35.00%) were found to carry class 1 integrons, 12 (30.00%) strains carried class 2 integrons, while no class 3 integrons was detected. There was a significant positive correlation between the class 1 integrons and three ARGs: bla_TEM, bla_CTX-M, and bla_CTX-M-2. This study revealed that P. mirabilis strains isolated from domestic dogs exhibited a higher prevalence of MDR, and carried fewer VAGs but more ARGs compared to those isolated from stay dogs. Furthermore, a negative correlation was observed between VAGs and ARGs.

Discussion

Given the increasing antimicrobial resistance of P. mirabilis, veterinarians should adopt a prudent approach towards antibiotics administration in dogs to mitigate the emergence and dissemination of MDR strains that pose a potential threat to public health.

Study of Virulence Genes, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Genetic Relatedness of Foodborne Salmonella Isolates from Tunisia

ABSTRACT

Nontyphoidal Salmonella strains are among the major foodborne pathogens with emerging multidrug-resistant phenotypes. In this study, antimicrobial susceptibility testing of a collection of Salmonella isolates (n = 54) recovered from poultry and bivalve molluscs was performed. The study also investigated profiling of virulence and resistance genes as well as phylogenetic relationships through pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR fingerprinting. Results revealed the presence of multiple virulence genes among Salmonella isolates. Salmonella intestinal infection A (siiA), Salmonella outer protein (sopB and sopE), putative 4-hydroxybutyrate coenzyme A transferase (cat2), Salmonella atypical fimbria C (safC), and Salmonella Enteritidis fimbria B (sefB) were present in most (83.32 to 100%) of the isolates, whereas the remaining tested genes (Salmonella plasmid virulence [spvC and spvB]), and the sopE gene, were exclusively detected within the serotype Enteritidis. The highest resistance rates were observed for oxacillin (94.4%), ampicillin (37%), and nalidixic acid (27.7%), followed by cefotaxime and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (14.8%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (9.3%), and ciprofloxacin (5.5%). The results indicate that the Salmonella Enteritidis serotype possessed the widest range of virulence determinants and increasing levels of resistance. Such high-risk clones should be particularly controlled in Tunisia. Overall, increased resistance and virulence confer a selective advantage for the evolution of these bacteria and represent an alarming problem for global public health. The genetic study via PFGE and ERIC-PCR showed the high diversity of the clonal origins of these bacteria and the sources of contamination and revealed the great capacity of Salmonella to diversify within food-producing animals.

HIGHLIGHTS

Lactic acid bacteria isolated from Chinese traditional fermented milk as novel probiotic strains and their potential therapeutic applications

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are believed to have health-promoting properties to the host and can be used in therapeutics interventions; intriguingly, they have the property to produce bio-preservatives substances. Therefore, this study aimed to mine probiotics and evaluate their safety, functional properties, and cholesterol-lowering capability. Seven potential probiotic strains were compared from 56 LAB strains isolated from traditional Chinese fermented milk. The results showed that all tested strains are tolerant to gastric acidity (45.5-83.26) and bile salts (11.92-92.91%) and have antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25923 and Escherichia coli ATCC25922. Likewise, it lowered the cholesterol levels in vitro by live cells (26.57-45.76%) and dead cells (29.53-50.97%) with remarkable aggregation ability (13.8-43.71%). Antioxidant properties and produce short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were strain-dependent features. Upon assessment of the safety, Enterococcus faecium NWAFU-BIO-AS14 exhibited virulence factors genes (VFs) of (mur-2ed, odc, and tet(K)) and + hemolysis activity. While Enterococcus faecium NWAFU-BIO-A-B24 and Limosilactobacillus fermentum NWAFU-BIO-B-S6 have VFs of (odc, vanC2, and ant(6)-Ia). Limosilactobacillus fermentum NWAFU-BIO-D-B2 has only (odc). Thus, they are not considered as safe probiotics. In contrast, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NWAFU-BIO-BS29, Companilactobacillus crustorum NWAFU-BIO-AS16, and Lactobacillus gallinarum NWAFU-BIO-D-S7 are the safest and best strains, respectively, due to the absence of 16 VFs and their sensitivity to antibiotics such as kanamycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, gentamycin, vancomycin, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, and ampicillin. Accordingly, these strains have a high potentiality to be used as starter cultures or safely applied as perfect probiotics in functionals food and feed.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-022-03403-z.

Probiotic of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NWAFU-BIO-BS29 Isolated from Chinese Traditional Fermented Milk and Its Potential Therapeutic Applications Based on Gut Microbiota Regulation

Lactic acid bacteria are one of the bioresources that can promote the host's health and have potential therapeutic applications. This study aimed to evaluate the probiotic properties of novel Lactiplantibacillus plantarum NWAFU-BISO-BS29 isolated in vitro from traditional Chinese fermented milk, assess its safety, and study its interaction with the gut microbiota using a BALB/c mouse model. The findings reveal that this strain had a high tolerance to gastric acidity (64.4%) and bile salts (19.83-87.92%) with remarkable auto-aggregation and co-aggregation abilities (33.01-83.96%), respectively. Furthermore, it lowered the cholesterol levels in dead cells (44.02%) and live cells (34.95%) and produced short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). Likewise, it showed good antioxidant properties and strong antipathogen activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with inhibition zones at 21 and 25 mm, respectively. The safety assessment results indicate that all of the virulence factor genes were not detected in the whole DNA; additionally, no hemolysis or resistance to antibiotics commonly used in food and feed was observed. Interestingly, the 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the mouse gut microbiota showed a marked alteration in the microbial composition of the administrated group, with a noticeable increase in Firmicutes, Patescibacteria, Campylobacterota, Deferribacterota, Proteobacteria, and Cyanobacteria at the phylum level. The modulation of gut microbial diversity significantly improved the production of SCFCs due to the abundance of lactobacillus genera, which was consistent with the functional gene predictive analysis and is believed to have health-promoting properties. Based on these results, our novel strain is considered a safe and good probiotic and could hold high potential to be used as a starter culture or to safely supplement functional foods as a probiotic and may provide new insights into therapeutic interventions.

ESBLs-producing Escherichia coli from sheep-origin: Genome-wide virulence genes identification and in vivo virulence assessment in mice and Galleria mellonella

The worldwide spread of pathogenic Escherichia coli, together with the multidrug resistant linked with extended-spectrum β-lactamases (blaCTX-M , blaTEM and blaOXA ), not only affect the health of animals and humans but also bring huge economic losses to animal husbandry. Despite the high levels of virulence present in many extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs)-producing E. coli isolates, however, few studies have comprehensively assessed the pathogenicity of ESBLs-producing E. coli isolates. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the presence of virulence genes in third-generation cephalosporin-resistant E. coli and to assess their pathogenicity and zoonotic potential. Previously, we identified 67 ESBLs-producing E. coli strains from sheep anal swabs in northwest China. In this study, we genotypically and phenotypically characterized isolates of E. coli that produce ESBLs. According to the VirulenceFinder and virulence factors database, all ESBLs-producing E. coli strains harboured a wide range of virulence genes. The ColV plasmid-related genes (hlyF, ompT, iss, iutA and cvaC) were present in 52 (77.6%) ESBLs-producing E. coli isolates. Surprisingly, quite a number of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli virulence-related genes were detected in 62 (92.5%) of 67 isolates. A total of 33 serotypes and 37 sequence types (STs) were found in 67 ESBLs-producing isolates. ST10 is the most prevalent ST, which is represented by five strains. The cluster analysis showed that CC10 and CC23 were the common clonal complexes (CCs). Predominant serotypes were O8 (10%) and O9 (9%) followed by 6% each of O89, O101 and O185. Most sheep-origin ESBLs-producing E. coli held the highly pathogenic to human and displayed moderate-to-vigorous-intensity motor capacity. The ESBLs-producing E. coli isolates with numerous virulence-related genes were able to cause multiple infectious diseases in animal models (mice, neonatal rats and Galleria mellonella). To our knowledge, this study represents an important first step for a comprehensive characterization of pathogenicity and zoonotic potential of sheep-origin ESBLs-producing E. coli isolates. These findings may be of significant value for the identification of pathogenicity and zoonotic potential risks associated with sheep-origin ESBLs-producing E. coli.

The Panel Spatial Econometric Analysis for Development of Green Intensive Agriculture Based on Edge Computing and Internet of Things

To further promote the modernization of agriculture and the prosperity of green industry, the analyses are made on the intensive level of agriculture by using spatial econometric model under the Internet of Things (IoT), and the optimal defense strategy is adopted for edge network equipment to ensure the security of agricultural information. Initially, the present work introduces the related concepts of agricultural intensive development and analyzes the important role of IoT in the development process of agricultural modernization. Next, it briefly explains the spatial econometric analysis method, introduces two basic spatial analysis models-spatial lag model (SLM) and spatial error model (SEM), and explains their principles in detail. Then, it signifies the characteristics of IoT and edge computing (EC) and designs the optimal defense strategy of edge network equipment from the perspective of IoT. Finally, the simulation experiment is carried out based on the edge network defense strategy, and the spatial econometric analysis is carried out by taking the agricultural intensive development of counties in a Chinese province as an example. The experimental results show that with the increase of the number of edge network devices, the optimal strategy of edge network defense can be adopted while consuming certain computing resources. The agricultural technology input and intensive level in the jurisdiction have high spatial correlation, so it is necessary to establish a spatial econometric model for analysis. Additionally, the statistics of SLM is higher than that of SEM, which shows that SLM can better reflect the technology investment and spatial correlation than SEM does. Both industrial and agricultural division of labor and agricultural production link division of labor can promote the level of intensification, among which the promotion of industrial and agricultural division of labor is not very significant, while the promotion of agricultural production link division of labor is very significant.

Characterization of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli Isolates That Cause Diarrhea in Sheep in Northwest China

Development of extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli is one the greatest threats faced by mankind. Among animals, chickens, pigs, and cattle are reservoirs of these pathogens worldwide. Nevertheless, there is a knowledge gap on ESBL-producing E. coli from small ruminants (i.e., sheep and goats) in China. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize the resistance profiles, resistomes, and sequence features of 67 ESBL-producing E. coli isolates from sheep in northwest China. The findings showed that blaCTX-M and blaTEM were the most prevalent. Interestingly, we found that the resistance gene mcr-1 was widespread in sheep merely from Shaanxi areas, accounting for 19.2% (5/26). The highly prevalent serotypes and FumC-FimH (CH) typing isolates were O8 and C4H32, respectively. High-risk E. coli clones, such as sequence type 10 (ST10), ST23, ST44, and ST58, were also found in China's sheep population. A total of 67 ESBL-producing isolates were divided into five phylogenetic groups, namely, B1 (n = 47, 70.1%), B2 (n = 1, 1.5%), C (n = 14, 20.9%), E (n = 1, 1.5%), and F (n = 1, 1.5%), with the phylogenetic groups for 3 isolates (4.5%) remaining unknown. Moreover, ESBL-producing E. coli isolates were also characterized by the abundance and diversity of biocide/metal resistance genes and insert sequences. We found that in ESBL-producing E. coli isolates, there were two different types of isolates, those containing ESBL genes or not, which led to large discrepancies between resistance phenotypes and resistomes. In summary, our study provides a comprehensive overview of resistance profiles and genome sequence features in ESBL-producing E. coli and highlights the possible role of sheep as antibiotic resistance gene disseminators into humans. IMPORTANCE Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), especially the simultaneous resistance to several antibiotics (multidrug resistance [MDR]), is one of the greatest threats to global public health in the 21st century. Among animals, chickens, pigs, and cattle are reservoirs of these pathogens worldwide. Nevertheless, there is a knowledge gap on ESBL-producing E. coli from small ruminants in China. This study is the largest and most comprehensive analysis of ESBL-producing E. coli isolates from sheep, including antibiotic resistance profiles, phylogenetic groups, serotypes, multilocus sequence types (MLST), insert sequences (IS), antibiotic resistance genes, disinfectant resistance genes, and heavy metal resistance genes. We recommend extending the surveillance of AMR of sheep-origin E. coli to prevent future public health risks.

Genomic and Phenotypic Characterization of a Colistin-Resistant Escherichia coli Isolate Co-Harboring blaNDM-5, blaOXA-1, and blaCTX-M-55 Isolated from Urine

Background

Materials and Methods

Results

Conclusion

Characterization of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Cultured From Retail Meat Products, Patients, and Porcine Excrement in China

The emergence and dissemination of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is a growing concern to animal and public health. However, little is known about the spread of CRE in food and livestock and its potential transmission to humans. To identify CRE strains from different origins and sources, 53 isolates were cultured from 760 samples including retail meat products, patients, and porcine excrement. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out, followed by phylogenetic typing, whole-genome sequencing, broth mating assays, and plasmids analyses. Forty-three Escherichia coli, nine Klebsiella pneumoniae, and one Enterobacter cloacae isolates were identified, each exhibiting multidrug-resistant phenotypes. Genetically, the main sequence types (STs) of E. coli were ST156 (n = 7), ST354 (n = 7), and ST48 (n = 7), and the dominant ST of K. pneumoniae is ST11 (n = 5). bla_NDM–5 (n = 40) of E. coli and bla_KPC–2 (n = 5) were the key genes that conferred carbapenem resistance phenotypes in these CRE strains. Additionally, the mcr-1 gene was identified in 17 bla_NDM-producing isolates. The bla_NDM–5 gene from eight strains could be transferred to the recipients via conjugation assays. Two mcr-1 genes in the E. coli isolates could be co-transferred along with the bla_NDM–5 genes. IncF and IncX3 plasmids have been found to be predominantly associated with bla_NDM gene in these strains. Strains isolated in our study from different sources and regions tend to be concordant and overlap. CRE strains from retail meat products are a reservoir for transition of CRE strains between animals and humans. These data also provide evidence of the dissemination of CRE strains and carbapenem-resistant genes between animal and human sources.