The Prevalence of Antimicrobial-Resistant Escherichia coli in Two Species of Invasive Alien Mammals in Japan

• Published in: Journal of Veterinary Medical Science Vol. 73; no. 8; pp. 1067 - 1070
• Main Authors: MIYAZAKI, Kei, OGURA, Go, TAKASE, Kozo, NAKAYAMA, Ayano, TAMAKI, Masanobu, OBI, Takeshi, MIYAMOTO, Atsushi, SAKEMI, Yoko, OKA, Tatsuzo, NAKAMURA, Ichiro, KAWAMOTO, Yasuhiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan JAPANESE SOCIETY OF VETERINARY SCIENCE 2011
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; antimicrobial-resistance of invasive alien mammals; antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli; Drug Resistance, Bacterial - genetics; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - drug effects; Escherichia coli - genetics; Escherichia coli - isolation & purification; Feces - microbiology; Herpestidae - microbiology; Introduced Species; Japan; Japanese weasel; Microbial Sensitivity Tests - veterinary; Mustelidae - microbiology; small Asian mongoose; small isolated island; Japan
• ISSN: 0916-7250; 1347-7439; 1347-7439
• DOI: 10.1292/jvms.10-0525

The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in 128 Escherichia coli isolates was investigated in two species of invasive alien mammals (IAMs): the small Asian mongoose (SAM) and Japanese weasel (JW). The SAM is found on the main island of Okinawa, Japan, where a large number of livestock is available, and the JW is present on a small island, where is isolated from the main island, and have a small number of livestock. We focused on the two IAMs, inhabiting under the different environments, and compared their prevalence of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli. In the comparison of the frequencies of antimicrobial-resistant E. coli isolates between the SAM and JW, JW showed significantly higher prevalence of resistance against three drugs, ampicillin, chlortetracycline and nalidixic acid, compared with SAM's test results (P<0.05). The blaTEM gene and the aph1 gene were detected in 35 subjects (91%) of ampicillin-resistant isolates and 6 subjects (100%) of kanamycin-resistant isolates, respectively. The tet (A) gene was detected in 62 subjects (46%) of CTC-resistant isolates, and the tet (B) gene was detected in 25 subjects (8%) of those in IAM. The present results suggest that some IAMs were the carrier of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and their genes, and the frequencies of these resistances were different between two IAM species.