Escherichia coli and Enterobacteriaceae Counts, Virulence Gene Profile, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Biofilm Formation Capacity during Pig Slaughter Stages

• Published in: Life (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 14; no. 10; p. 1261
• Main Authors: Coelho, Madalena Maria Saldanha, Davanzo, Emilia Fernanda Agostinho, Dos Santos, Rebecca Lavarini, Castro, Virgílio Hipólito de Lemos, da Costa, Hayanna Maria Boaventura, Dallago, Bruno Stéfano Lima, Perecmanis, Simone, Santana, Angela Patrícia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-10-2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Abattoirs; Aminoglycosides; Amoxicillin; Ampicillin; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; antimicrobial multiresistance; Antimicrobial resistance; Biofilms; Bleeding; Carcasses; Chloramphenicol; Chloromycetin; Cold storage; Contamination; Critical point; Drug resistance; Drug resistance in microorganisms; E coli; Enterobacter; Enterobacteriaceae; Escherichia coli; Food contamination & poisoning; Genes; Genetic aspects; Hygiene; Identification and classification; Microbial contamination; Microorganisms; Pork; Public health; Quinolones; Slaughter; Streptomycin; Sulfonamides; Swine; Temperature; Testing; Toxins; Virulence; Virulence (Microbiology); β-Lactam antibiotics; Brazil; United States > US; swine; antimicrobial multiresistance; biofilms; Escherichia coli
• DOI: 10.3390/life14101261
• EISSN: 2075-1729

This study aimed to count
and
in different locations on pig carcasses (shank, loin, abdomen, shoulder, and jowl) from two slaughterhouses (A and B) between September 2019 and July 2021 during different slaughter stages (after bleeding, after passing through the epilator machine, after manual toileting in the dirty area, before and after evisceration, and after the final washing), as well as verify antimicrobial resistance and biofilm formation capacity. The main points of
and
contamination were identified in the two slaughterhouses through three collections. The stages with the highest counts were post-bleeding and evisceration in both slaughterhouses and after manual toileting in slaughterhouse B in the first collection. Most
isolates were resistant to multiple antimicrobials, with higher resistance frequencies to amoxicillin, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, sulfonamides, and streptomycin. The virulence genes
,
, and
were also detected. Three isolates had all three genes and exhibited resistance to at least six antimicrobial classes (β-lactams, macrolides, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides, amphenicols, and quinolones).
isolates also showed a high frequency of strains with moderate and strong in vitro biofilm-forming capacity. This is the first study to characterize microbial contamination by pig slaughter stage in the Federal District region, demonstrating the critical points for hygienic production.
was isolated from the surface of pig carcasses, as well as the virulence genes
,
, and
were detected. The multi-antimicrobial resistant isolates also had a moderate-to-strong biofilm formation capacity, thus demonstrating risks to public health.