Volume 43, Issue 1 e13023
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Sheep and goats are reservoirs of colistin resistant Escherichia coli that co-resist critically important antimicrobials: First study from Jordan

Mohammad M. Obaidat

Corresponding Author

Mohammad M. Obaidat

Department of Veterinary Pathology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar-Ramtha, Irbid, Jordan

Correspondence

Mohammad M. Obaidat, Department of Veterinary Pathology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar-Ramtha, Irbid, Jordan.

Email: [email protected]

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Yaser H. Tarazi

Yaser H. Tarazi

Department of Basic Veterinary Medical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar-Ramtha, Irbid, Jordan

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Walaa M. AlSmadi

Walaa M. AlSmadi

Department of Veterinary Pathology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Ar-Ramtha, Irbid, Jordan

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First published: 06 November 2022

Funding information: Jordan University of Science and Technology

Abstract

There is a knowledge gap on colistin-resistant and mobilized colistin-resistant (mcr) Escherichia coli in sheep and goats worldwide. This study determined the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of mobilized colistin-resistant (mcr) E. coli in dairy sheep and goat flocks in Jordan. A total of 948 milk samples were collected from 155 flocks across Jordan. The milk samples were pre-enriched in MacConkey broth and then plated on MacConkey agar supplemented with 8 mg/l colistin and the presence of mcr-1 gene in the isolates was tested by polymerase chain reaction. In total, 1,158 E. coli isolates were colistin resistant, with 74.8% herd-level prevalence and 39.5% individual animal prevalence. Sixty-one (5.3%) of 1,158 phenotypically colistin-resistant E. coli harbored mcr-1, with 23.9% herd-level prevalence and 6.6% individual animal prevalence. About 77.1% of the mcr-1 E. coli resisted one or more antimicrobial classes and 37.7% were multidrug resistant. More than 30% of the mcr-1 positive E. coli isolates were resistant to nalidixic acid, tetracycline, ceftazidime, cefpodoxime and ampicillin, whereas 8–20% of the isolates were resistant to cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, gentamicin, tobramycin, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid. This study indicates that small ruminants are reservoirs of colistin-resistant and mcr-1 positive E. coli that exhibit co-resistance to critically important antimicrobials which would pose public health issue and calls for the necessary banning of the use of colistin in small ruminants.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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