Antimicrobial Resistance of <i>Escherichia coli</i> in Dairy Calves: A 15-Year Retrospective Analysis and Comparison of Treated and Untreated Animals

• Main Authors: Nicoletta Formenti, Chiara Martinelli, Nicoletta Vitale, Stefano Giovannini, Cristian Salogni, Matteo Tonni, Federico Scali, Laura Birbes, Mario D’Incau, Flavia Guarneri, Paolo Pasquali, Giovanni Loris Alborali
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Animals
• Subjects: AMR surveillance; temporal dynamics; virulence genes; ineffective treatments; 1-week-old calves; environmental contamination
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/8/2328

The health problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) involves several species. AMR surveillance is essential to identify its development and design control strategies; however, available data are still limited in some contexts. The AMR profiles of 2612 <i>E. coli</i> strains isolated over a period of 15 years (2002–2016) from calf enteric cases were analyzed to determine the presence of resistance and their temporal dynamics. Furthermore, the AMR profiles and the presence of the major virulence genes of 505 <i>E. coli</i> strains isolated from 1-week- and 2-week-old calves, 406 treated with antimicrobials and 99 untreated, were analyzed and compared to investigate the potential effects of treatment on AMR and strain pathogenicity. Resistance to tetracycline (90.70%) was the most common, followed by resistance to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (77.70%) and flumequine (72.10%). The significantly higher percentage of AMR and virulence gene expression recorded in treated calves, combined with the statistically higher resistance to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim in <i>E. coli</i> with K99, corroborates the notion of resistance being induced by the frequent use of antimicrobials, leading to treatments potentially becoming ineffective. The significantly higher resistance to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, enrofloxacin, and florfenicol in isolates from 1-week-old calves suggests the role of the environment as a source of contamination that should be investigated further.