| Antimicrobial resistant Escherichia coli were isolated in varying frequencies from fecal samples collected from wild small mammals living in the vicinity of swine farms (48%), landfill (15%), residential (9%), and natural (5%) areas in Southern Ontario. Significant associations were observed between farm origin and the occurrence of resistance to some antimicrobial agents and presence of resistance genes. Specifically, animals trapped on farms were more likely to carry E. coli isolates with resistance to tetracycline, ampicillin, sulfisoxazole, streptomycin and chloramphenicol and the resistance genes sul2, sul3, aadA, tet(A), tet(C), cmlA and blaTEM were more likely to be detected. In addition we found that E. coli recovery and the occurrence of resistant bacteria in individual animals varied depending on sample source (colon, cecal, fecal), highlighting the potential impact of sample type on recovery of E. coli and detection of AMR in wild animal populations... |
