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Pathogenic Escherichia coli Strains Recovered from Selected Aquatic Resources in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and Its Significance to Public Health - PubMed

  • ️Mon Jan 01 2018

Pathogenic Escherichia coli Strains Recovered from Selected Aquatic Resources in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, and Its Significance to Public Health

Kingsley Ehi Ebomah et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018.

Abstract

The prevalence of pathogenic microorganisms, as well as the proliferation of antimicrobial resistance, pose a significant threat to public health. However, the magnitude of the impact of aquatic environs concerning the advent and propagation of resistance genes remains vague. Escherichia coli (E. coli) are widespread and encompass a variety of strains, ranging from non-pathogenic to highly pathogenic. This study reports on the incidence and antibiotic susceptibility profiles of E. coli isolates recovered from the Nahoon beach and its canal waters in South Africa. A total of 73 out of 107 (68.2%) Polymerase chain reaction confirmed E. coli isolates were found to be affirmative for at least one virulence factor. These comprised of enteropathogenic E. coli 11 (10.3%), enteroinvasive E. coli 14 (13.1%), and neonatal meningitis E. coli 48 (44.9%). The phenotypic antibiogram profiles of the confirmed isolates revealed that all 73 (100%) were resistant to ampicillin, whereas 67 (91.8%) of the pathotypes were resistant to amikacin, gentamicin, and ceftazidime. About 61 (83.6%) and 51 (69.9%) were resistant to tetracycline and ciprofloxacin, respectively, and about 21.9% (16) demonstrated multiple instances of antibiotic resistance, with 100% exhibiting resistance to eight antibiotics. The conclusion from our findings is that the Nahoon beach and its canal waters are reservoirs of potentially virulent and antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains, which thus constitute a potent public health risk.

Keywords: E. coli; MARI; MARP; antibiotic-resistance gene; multidrug resistance; surface water.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1

A map showing the location of the study area.

Figure 2
Figure 2

PCR products of the amplification of the uidA gene (E. coli) Lane 1: 100 bp molecular weight marker; Lane 2: positive control (E. coli ATCC 25922); Lane 3: negative control; Lanes 4–13: positive isolates.

Figure 3
Figure 3

Sensitivity percentages of E. coli isolates to 8 antibacterial agents. The antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the isolates of the several antibiotics tested following the CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute) guideline [26] showed that the isolates displayed highest resistance to ampicillin (100%). The following is the order of the level of resistance exhibited against the remaining antibiotics; amikacin (96%), gentamycin (96%), ceftazidime (96%), tetracycline (92%), ciprofloxacin (85%), trimethoprim (84%), norflaxacin (62%). However, the isolates were mostly susceptible to norflaxacin.

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