Molecular characterisation of bla OXA-48 carbapenemase-, extended-spectrum β-lactamase- and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolated from farm piglets in India

• Published in: Journal of global antimicrobial resistance. Vol. 13; pp. 201 - 205
• Main Authors: Nirupama, K R, O R, Vinodh Kumar, Pruthvishree, B S, Sinha, D K, Murugan, M Senthil, Krishnaswamy, Narayanan, Singh, B R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands 01-06-2018
• Subjects: ESBL; Carbapenem; Shiga toxin; Escherichia coli; Faecal sample; Piglet
• ISSN: 2213-7165; 2213-7173
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jgar.2018.01.007

The aim of this study was to characterise carbapenemase-, extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)- and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolated from farm piglets in India.
Faecal samples (n=741) from 10 organised pig farms, including non-diarrhoeic (n=546) and diarrhoeic (n=195) piglets, were processed for isolation of carbapenem-resistant and ESBL-producing E. coli.
A total of 27 and 243 isolates were phenotypically confirmed as carbapenem-resistant and ESBL-producers, respectively. The meropenem minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of carbapenem-resistant isolates ranged from 8-128μg/mL. On genotypic screening of the 27 carbapenem-resistant isolates, 3 isolates were positive for the bla
carbapenemase gene; no other carbapenemase genes were detected. The 243 ESBL-producing isolates were positive for bla
(n=135), qnrA (n=92), qnrB (n=112), qnrS (n=49), tetA (n=42), tetB (n=45) and sul1 (n=43). The Shiga toxin virulence markers stx1 and stx2 were detected in 41 and 38 of the 243 phenotypic ESBL-producing isolates, respectively. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) of bla
-positive E. coli isolates showed ST10- and ST5053-like sequence types.
This is the first report on the presence of bla
-carrying E. coli in piglets in India, which pose a potential risk to public health.