Prevalence and characteristics of multidrug-resistant Proteus mirabilis from broiler farms in Shandong Province, China

• Published in: Poultry science Vol. 101; no. 4; p. 101710
• Main Authors: Li, Zixuan, Peng, Chong, Zhang, Gerui, Shen, Yuanyu, Zhang, Yuxuan, Liu, Cong, Liu, Mengda, Wang, Fangkun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 01.04.2022; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; blaNDM-1; Carbapenems; Chickens - microbiology; China - epidemiology; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial - genetics; Farms; Microbial Sensitivity Tests - veterinary; MICROBIOLOGY AND FOOD SAFETY; multidrug-resistant; P. mirabilis; Prevalence; Proteus mirabilis - genetics; virulence gene; China; virulence gene; blaNDM-1; P. mirabilis; multidrug-resistant; bla(NDM-1)
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2022.101710

Animal-derived Proteus mirabilis (P. mirabilis) is an important food-borne zoonotic bacillus and widely exists in the broiler-breeding industry. The present study was designed to explore the P. mirabilis prevalence and antimicrobial resistance characteristics in 6 conventional broiler-fattening farms in Shandong Province, China. The overall isolation rate of P. mirabilis was 7.07% (50/707). Antimicrobial resistance was very common in the P. mirabilis isolated from these farms and varied for different antibacterial drugs, with chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole having the highest resistance rate (98%) and aztreonam the lowest (0%). Multidrug resistance was as high as 100%. The majority of the MDR isolates were resistant to between 9 and 12 of the antibiotics, with these accounting for 76% (38/50) of multidrug resistant strains. These P. mirabilis isolates carried 24 drug-resistance genes in 6 types, with stcM having the highest rate (96%) and cmlA, blaTEM, and qnrC the lowest (2%). Superdrug resistance gene blaNDM-1 was found in 10% (5/50) of isolates from poultry farms in Shandong. All the P. mirabilis isolates carried at least 6 virulence genes, with 100% detection rates of the ireA and hpmA genes. Our study revealed that the P. mirabilis strains isolated in the Shandong area all showed the MDR phenotype and the poultry-derived carbapenem-resistant MDR P. mirabilis strains may pose a potential risk to humans. Surveillance findings presented herein will be conducive to our understanding of the prevalence and characteristics of carbapenem-resistant P. mirabilis strains in Shandong, China.