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
  • 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.
PMID: 35236849 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28750-6
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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