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Extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing *Escherichia coli* isolated from raw vegetables in South Korea

Food Science and Technology

Extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing *Escherichia coli* isolated from raw vegetables in South Korea

J. Song, S. Oh, et al.

This study by Jihyun Song, Sung-Suck Oh, Junghee Kim, and Jinwook Shin reveals alarming findings on extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing *Escherichia coli* from raw vegetables in South Korea. With 11 isolates identified showing resistance to multiple antibiotics, this research underscores the potential health risks of consuming contaminated produce and the possibility of transmitting multidrug-resistant pathogens to humans.... show more
Abstract
The increasing prevalence of oxyimino-cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae has become a global concern because of their clinical impact on both human and veterinary medicine. The present study determined the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility, and molecular genetic features of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-EC) isolates from raw vegetables. A total of 1324 samples were collected from two agricultural wholesale markets in Incheon, South Korea in 2018. The ESBL-EC strains were isolated from 0.83% (11/1324) samples, and all of them were resistant to ampicillin, piperacillin, cefazoline, cefotaxime, and nalidixic acid and yielded CTX-M-type ESBL, including CTX-M-14, CTX-M-15, CTX-M-55, CTX-M-27, and CTX-M-65. The isolates belonged to phylogenetic subgroups D (n = 5), A (n = 4), and B1 (n = 2). Multilocus sequence typing revealed nine known E. coli sequence types (STs), including ST10, ST38, ST69, ST101, ST224, ST349, ST354, ST2509, ST2847, and two new STs. Notably, ST69, ST10, ST38, and ST354 belong to the major human-associated extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli lineages. Our results demonstrate that ESBL-producing multidrug-resistant pathogens may be transmitted to humans through the vegetable intake, highlighting the importance of resistance monitoring and intervention in the One Health perspective.
Publisher
Scientific Reports
Published On
Nov 12, 2020
Authors
Jihyun Song, Sung-Suck Oh, Junghee Kim, Jinwook Shin
Tags
ESBL-producing E. coli
raw vegetables
antimicrobial resistance
molecular characteristics
South Korea
multidrug-resistant pathogens
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