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MDR K. Pneumoniae more prevalent among retail meat than clinical isolates
Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates from retail meats appear more likely to be multidrug resistant than clinical isolates, which may have significant implications for public health, according to recent data.
Researchers evaluated subset of 82 isolates of K. pneumoniae from retail meat products and human clinical specimens. The meat isolates (n = 44) were collected and cultivated from retail turkey, chicken and pork products purchased from nine major grocery chains in Flagstaff, Arizona from January 2012 to October 2012. Human clinical K. pneumoniae specimens (n = 38) were collected from regularly submitted clinical urine or blood specimens available from the Flagstaff Medical Center between November 2011 and October 2012. Antibiotic susceptibility testing and whole genome sequencing were conducted on all isolates, and results between the two sources compared.
The researchers found that only one isolate was susceptible to ampicillin, while no resistance to amikacin or imipenem was detected among any of the isolates. There was higher prevalence of resistance among meat-source isolates for all antibiotics except trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and nalidixic acid, and this difference was significant for tetracycline (P = .001) and gentamicin (P = .029).
Among the isolates taken from meat sources, those from turkey showed the highest rate of resistance to all antibiotics except for cefoxitin, for which pork isolates showed the highest resistance.
Clinical isolates did not vary by source (community, hospital or health care setting) in terms of antimicrobial resistance prevalence.
Four types of genetic sequences were identified in both meat-sourced and clinical isolates, and phylogenetic analyses revealed close genetic relationships between isolates from both sources.
Overall, approximately 22% of isolates were multidrug-resistant, including 32% of those from meat sources and 8% of those from clinical settings.
In a related editorial, Amee R. Manges, MPH, of the Faculty of Medicine, School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia cited the growing evidence for clonal expansion and circulation of certain extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)–producing E coli causing intestinal infections, which may also be linked in some cases to poultry.
“It is not too far a stretch to imagine that Klebsiella dissemination may operate in a similar fashion,” Manges wrote. “Although common multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae was not recovered from both human and retail meat samples in this study, similar lineages of susceptible isolates were identified from both sources, suggesting food animals may be a reservoir.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant disclosures.