1. Academic Validation
  2. Antimicrobial resistance and population genomics of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in pig farms in mainland China

Antimicrobial resistance and population genomics of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in pig farms in mainland China

  • Nat Commun. 2022 Mar 2;13(1):1116. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28750-6.
Zhong Peng  # 1 2 Zizhe Hu  # 1 2 Zugang Li 1 2 Xiaoxue Zhang 1 2 Chaoying Jia 1 2 Tianzhi Li 1 2 Menghong Dai 3 Chen Tan 1 2 Zhuofei Xu 4 Bin Wu 1 2 Huanchun Chen 1 2 Xiangru Wang 5 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070, Wuhan, China.
  • 2 Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Centre for Sustainable Pig Production, 430070, Wuhan, China.
  • 3 MOA Key Laboratory of Food Safety Evaluation/National Reference Laboratory of Veterinary Drug Residue (HZAU), Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070, Wuhan, China.
  • 4 Shanghai MasScience Biotechnology Institute, Shanghai, China.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070, Wuhan, China. [email protected].
  • 6 Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, Cooperative Innovation Centre for Sustainable Pig Production, 430070, Wuhan, China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
Abstract

The expanding use of antimicrobials in livestock is an important contributor to the worldwide rapid increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). However, large-scale studies on AMR in livestock remain scarce. Here, we report findings from surveillance of E. coli AMR in pig farms in China in 2018-2019. We isolated E. coli in 1,871 samples from pigs and their breeding environments, and found AMR in E. coli in all provinces in mainland China. We detected multidrug-resistance in 91% isolates and found resistance to last-resort drugs including colistin, carbapenems and tigecycline. We also identified a heterogeneous group of O-serogroups and sequence types among the multidrug-resistant isolates. These isolates harbored multiple resistance genes, virulence factor-encoding genes, and putative plasmids. Our data will help to understand the current AMR profiles of pigs and provide a reference for AMR control policy formulation for livestock in China.

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