Cross-Sectional Study on Prevalence and Molecular Characteristics of Plasmid Mediated ESBL/AmpC-Producing Escherichia coli Isolated from Veal Calves at Slaughter

Abstract

Objectives:The presence of ESBL/AmpC-producing E. coli in cattle has been reported previously, however information on veal calves is limited. This study describes the prevalence and molecular characteristics of E. coli with non-wild type susceptibility to cefotaxime in veal calves at slaughter.Methods:Faecal samples from 100 herds, 10 individual animals per herd, were screened for E. coli with non-wild type susceptibility for cefotaxime. Molecular characterization of ESBL/AmpC genes and plasmids was performed on one isolate per herd by microarray, PCR and sequence analysis.Results:66% of the herds were positive for E. coli with non-wild type susceptibility for cefotaxime. Within-herd prevalence varied from zero to 90%. 83% of E. coli producing ESBL/AmpC carried blaCTX-M genes, of which blaCTX-M-1, blaCTX-M-14 and blaCTX-M-15 were most prevalent. The dominant plasmids were IncI1 and IncF-type plasmids.Conclusions:A relatively high prevalence of various blaCTX-M producing E. coli was found in veal calves at slaughter. The genes were mainly located on IncI1 and IncF plasmids. © 2013 Hordijk et al.