ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND PUBLIC AND ANIMAL HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH VIRULENT Escherichia coli ISOLATED FROM CALVES
Epidemiology, calves, antimicrobial susceptibility, enteropathogenic.
Diarrhea caused by Escherichia coli affects livestock and public health, being one of the most prevalent infectious diseases. In calves and buffalo calves, the disease causes serious injuries to the gastrointestinal tract of animals, impairing the absorption of nutrients, in addition to a systemic condition due to dehydration, loss of electrolytes, prostration and anorexia, which can lead to the death of affected animals. In addition to their importance for animal health, some E. coli pathotypes can also be transmitted to humans via the food chain, resulting in a public health problem. Therefore, the aims of the present study were (i) perform a systematic review to determine the antimicrobial resistance profile of pathogenic E. coli isolated from intestinal tract of calves worldwide and (ii) determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of pathogenic E. coli strains isolated from calves and buffalo calves from 1990 to 2013 in Minas Gerais, Brazil, as well as, the frequency of O157 strains and strains carrying extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) and mobile colistin resistance (mcr) genes. The systematic review recovered 932 papers and ended up with 56 studies, published between 1982 and 2020, which tested antimicrobial susceptibility among pathogenic E. coli mainly to disk diffusion method (82.14%) through cross-sectional studies (58.92%). Overall, high rates of resistance to the main classes of antimicrobials used in the treatment of gastrointestinal infections caused by E. coli strains it was observed among the selected studies. Likewise, among the virulent E. coli strains isolated from calves and buffalo calves in Minas Gerais, 1990 to 2013, high rates of resistance to penicillin, tetracyclines and folate inhibitors was observed, in addition to an alarming rate of multidrug resistance and strains able to produce ESBL. Altogether, our results point to the need of monitoring antimicrobial resistance among E. coli strains from animal origin, which should be developed from the perspective of One Health, through policies of pathogen prevention and control.