Caracterización de los perfiles de resistencia antimicrobiana de Escherichia coli aislada de mamíferos en cautiverio del EcoZoológico San Martín – Baños de Agua Santa

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a public health problem around the world; therefore, to prevent the emergence and spread of pathogenic bacteria, measures should be taken by adopting a One Health perspective. Around the world, one of the factors for the emergence of resistant pathogens has been the zoonotic exchange between animals and humans, and its association with the use of different antimicrobials in human and veterinary medicine. For this reason, the study of wild or captive species is essential. This research focuses on characterizing antimicrobial resistance profiles in E. coli isolates from captive mammals at the San Martín Eco Zoo in Baños de Agua Santa. From a total of 27 faecal samples collected, 90 strains were isolated. 32 strains presented resistance to more than three families of antibiotics; however, only strains E57 and E75 isolated from ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) showed resistance to six families of antibiotics. The antibiotics with the highest percentage of resistance were ampicillin (97.5), ceftriaxone (95), cefuroxime (95), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (52.5), ceftazidime (47.5) and ciprofloxacin (37.5). The generated profiles showed the relationship between resistance to antimicrobials and the diet of the mammals studied, observing that those isolated from mammals with a meat-based diet were multi-resistant E. coli; In addition, the antibiotic treatment received helped with the presence of more resistant isolates. The results obtained indicate that captive species can be potential reservoirs of multi-resistant bacteria to antibiotics.