INTRODUCTION:
The intensive use of antibiotics in both public health and animal husbandry has selected for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. On farms, many antibiotics are used routinely for disease prevention or for the treatment of avoidable outbreaks of disease. This has raised concern about the transmission of antibiotic resistant bacteria to humans via the food supply.
The aim of the study is to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles of E. coli isolated from poultry products sold in Canberra retail outlets. The isolates were screened for their resistance to antibiotics like fluoroquinolones and beta-lactam antibiotics.
METHODS:
Poultry meat samples (whole, wings, thigh fillet, breast fillet, mince) were collected from three major supermarket chains and an independent butchery located in each of the four major Canberra town centres. All isolates were fingerprinted by repetitive element palindromic PCR (REP-PCR). The antibiotic susceptibility pattern was determined for a representative of each fingerprint type.
RESULTS:
Among the 281 isolates, there were 131 unique REP fingerprints. There was an average of 3.2 REP types detected per sample. However, the number of REP types did not vary with respect to town centre, retailer, or meat type.
Of the 281 isolates, 61% were found to be resistant to one or more antibiotic, with each isolate being resistant to an average of 2.2 antibiotics. The antibiotic resistance profile of the isolates varied with respect to town centre and retailer, but not with respect to meat type. Alarmingly, a few fluoroquinolone resistant isolates were observed, despite the fact that fluoroquinolone use in animals has been banned in Australia for more than 20 years.
CONCLUSION:
The results of this study provide further evidence that the food we consume is a significant source of antibiotic resistant E. coli. The results also suggest that some post processing contamination of poultry products may be occurring.