Scientists from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg suggest the lifestyle differences among species can provide critical insight into the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance spread and the potential for improved monitoring and control.
Two researchers — Kathleen Alexander, PhD, an associate professor of wildlife in the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment, and Sarah Jobbins, PhD, a former postdoctoral associate in wildlife — used the common intestinal bacteria Escherichia coli to evaluate the spread of antibiotic resistance among humans, domestic animals and wildlife in northern Botswana.
They tested for resistance to 10 antibiotics among cattle and 18 wildlife species and compared the results to 193 human samples from patients at the local hospital and 12 environmental sources of human fecal waste. Ultimately, the researchers found:
1. Among 150 wildlife fecal samples, 41 percent contained E. coli isolates that were resistant to at least one or two of the 10 antibiotics tested.
2. Thirteen percent of the wildlife fecal samples were resistant to three or more antibiotics, making them multidrug resistant.
3. E. coli from wildlife, human clinical and environmental samples were resistant to a similar spectrum of antibiotics.
4. Multidrug resistance was found across land types, from areas of human habitation to protected areas such as Botswana's Chobe National Park.
5. Multidrug resistance was significantly higher in water-associated species (i.e. hippopotamus, waterbuck, otter, etc.), carnivorous species (i.e. crocodile, leopard, hyena, etc.) and species inhabiting urban areas (i.e. mongoose, baboon, warthog, etc.).
According to Dr. Alexander, there is a need to be much more aggressive about controlling the spread of antibiotic resistance.
"We can harness life history diversity in wildlife communities to identify where contact with resistant microbes might occur in the environment," said Dr. Alexander.
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Healthcare providers are major contributors to antibiotic overuse: 6 study findings