Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles Found in a Case Study of Escherichia coli from Cohabitant Pets and Environmental Surfaces at Animal Clinics, Phnom Penh City

Abstract

Escherichia coli (E. coli) can be transmitted from dogs to surfaces through direct exposure to dog faeces, pus, and urine; alternatively, it can live in the environment for a short period. We aimed to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance profile of E. coli from dogs and environmental surfaces of animal clinics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. We swabbed twenty-four samples from dogs (18 faeces and 6 pus) and twenty-three from environmental surfaces (8 cage-floors, 7 cage-walls, 1 feeding-plate, and 7 treatment-tables) at animal clinics. The bacterial culture method was used to isolate E. coli from both dog and environmental surface samples. An antibiogram of the isolates was tested using the disk diffusion method with six antibiotics (amoxicillin, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, gentamycin, levofloxacin, and tetracycline), following the standard of the Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute. The results showed that E. coli was present in approximately 54 % of dog samples and 22 % of environmental surface samples. The E. coli isolates from dog samples showed high resistance to amoxicillin, ampicillin, and tetracycline (54 %) and lower resistance to ceftriaxone, gentamycin (27 %), and levofloxacin (8 %). E. coli isolates from environmental surfaces demonstrated high resistance to amoxicillin, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, and tetracycline (80 %-100 %), and lower resistance to gentamicin and levofloxacin (60 %). In conclusion, E. coli was found in both dogs and veterinary clinic surfaces and exhibited resistance to numerous antibiotics. This study suggests that further research is necessary to identify the specific genes responsible for the antibiotic resistance of E. coli found in dogs, on clinic surfaces, as well as in humans –including clinic technicians and dog owners – in order to better understand how this resistance is affected by the transmission of E. coli between different carriers.