Comparative Characteristics and Zoonotic Potential of Avian Pathogenic
Escherichia coli (APEC) Isolates from Chicken and Duck in South Korea.
Microorganisms 2021;
9:946. [PMID:
33925760 PMCID:
PMC8145765 DOI:
10.3390/microorganisms9050946]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2021] [Revised: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes colibacillosis, which is an economically important disease in the poultry industry worldwide. The present study investigated O-serogroups, phylogenetic groups, antimicrobial resistance, and the existence of virulence-associated genes (VAGs) and antimicrobial resistance genes in 125 APEC isolates between 2018 and 2019 in Korea. The phylogenetic group B2 isolates were confirmed for human-related sequence types (STs) through multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). O-serogroups O2 (12.5%) and O78 (10.3%) and phylogenetic group B1 (36.5%) and A (34.5%) were predominant in chicken and duck isolates, respectively. Out of 14 VAGs, iucD, iroN, hlyF, and iss were found significantly more in chicken isolates than duck isolates (p < 0.05). The resistance to ampicillin, ceftiofur, ceftriaxone, and gentamicin was higher in chicken isolates than duck isolates (p < 0.05). The multidrug resistance (MDR) rates of chicken and duck isolates were 77.1% and 65.5%, respectively. One isolate resistant to colistin (MIC 16 μg/mL) carried mcr-1. The B2-ST95 APEC isolates possessed more than 9 VAGs, and most of them were MDR (82.4%). This report is the first to compare the characteristics of APEC isolates from chickens and ducks in Korea and to demonstrate that B2-ST95 isolates circulating in Korea have zoonotic potential and pose a public health risk.
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