Multidrug Resistance of Escherichia coli From Poultry and Humans in contact: Serotyping, Resistance Genes, and Their Public Health Importance

Chicken intestinal microbiome naturally includes Escherichia coli. However, only a small subset, known as avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), may be harmful and zoonotic to humans. The study primary goal was to examine E. coli isolates from poultry and humans, serotype them, and find genes that confer resistance to popular antibiotics as well as drug sensitivity. The study tested 160 meat and organ samples from chickens and ducks, along with 40 human stool samples, finding E. coli in 15 % of samples, with the highest rates in human stool (40 %) and lower rates in duck (11.7 %), chicken organs (3.3%) and their meat (12.5 %). Thirty tested E. coli showed high resistance to several antibiotics, especially erythromycin, but were more sensitive to colistin and fosfomycin, with many strains showing resistance to multiple drugs. The isolates were analysed for some antibiotic resistance genes of E. coli. Duck and chicken organ isolates were found to be positive to aadA1, sul1, tetA, and msr-1 genes. Whereas their meat possessed aac(3)Iv, aadA1, sul1, tetA, msr-1 and aac(6)Ib genes. Human isolates carried ereA, aadA1, tetA, sul1, msr-1, and aac(3)Iv genes. In conclusion, the detection of shared antimicrobial resistance genes among E. coli isolates from both poultry and human sources strongly suggests a potential zoonotic transmission pathway. This highlights the substantial public health importance of these findings, indicating that avian E. coli contributes not only to economic losses in poultry production but also to the increasing burden of multidrug-resistant infections in both animal and human populations.