Sharing more than friendship: dynamics of direct transmission of antimicrobial resistance between human families and their companion animals

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KPC-3-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type 392 from a dog’s clinical isolate in Portugal

Publication . Moreira da Silva, Joana; Menezes, Juliana; Mendes, Gabriel; Santos Costa, Sofia; Caneiras, Catia; Poirel, Laurent; Amaral, Andreia J.; Pomba, Constança

Resistance to carbapenems in Enterobacterales poses a threat to health care systems worldwide since those infections are associated with high mortality and limited treatment options. The latest European reports show that some southern European countries are almost endemic for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPEs). Mirroring the European tendency, Portugal has been observing a steady increase in the occurrence of carbapenemresistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, particularly KPC-3-producing K. pneumoniae ST147 lineage (Clonal Group 147) strains in health care settings.

2022Journal article

Open access

Human and companion animal proteus mirabilis sharing

Publication . Marques, Cátia Filipa Saraiva; Belas, Adriana; Menezes, Juliana; da Silva, Joana Moreira; Cavaco-Silva, Patrícia; Trigueiro, Graça; Gama, Luis; Pomba, C.

Proteus mirabilis is an important pathogen that is associated with urinary tract infections. This study aims to determine the colonization and sharing of P. mirabilis between healthy companion animals and humans that are living together and to evaluate the clonal relatedness of the fecal and clinical stains. Eighteen households (24 humans, 18 dogs, 8 cats) with at least one human–animal pair were studied. Fecal samples were plated onto MacConkey and Hektoen agar and P. mirabilis PFGE analysis (NotI; Dice/UPGMA; 1.5% tolerance) was conducted for the households with multiple positive participants. Antimicrobial-resistance was tested according to CLSI. The fecal P. mirabilis pulse-types were compared with uropathogenic clinical strains (n = 183). Forty-nine P. mirabilis were isolated from eight households. The percentage of colonization in the dogs (44.4%, n = 8/18) was significantly higher (p = 0.0329) than in the humans (12.5%, n = 3/24). Three households had multiple colonized participants. One human–dog pair shared related P. mirabilis strains, which clustered with a clinical strain of animal origin (82.5%). One fecal P. mirabilis strain, from a dog, clustered with two human community-acquired clinical strains (80.9%, 88.9%). To our knowledge, this is the first report of dogs and humans living in close contact and sharing related P. mirabilis strains. The high frequency of colonization in the dogs underlines their possible role as P. mirabilis reservoirs for humans and other dogs.

2022-03Journal article

Open access

Sharing more than friendship : dynamics of direct transmission of antimicrobial resistance between human families and their companion animals

Publication . Menezes, Juliana Cruz de Oliveira de; Pomba, Maria Constança Matias Ferreira; Fonseca, Andreia de Jesus Amaral Gomes Barbosa

Enterobacterales that produce extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), AmpC cephalosporinases and carbapenemases (CPE), as well as colistin-resistant strains, are important pathogens raising public health concerns due to their increasing prevalence. The prospective longitudinal study focusing on households in Portugal (PT) and the United Kingdom (UK), showed that ESBL/AmpC-producing Enterobacterales strains carriage in healthy companion animals occur at a significantly lower frequency (p-value <0.0001) compared to animals with active infections under antibiotic therapy. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) analysis identified the sharing of ESBL/AmpC-producing Enterobacterales strains between healthy companion animals and humans in two households from Portugal (n=41), involving Escherichia coli human pandemics lineages ST93, ST410 and ST457. Among companion animals undergoing antibiotic treatment due to urinary tract infection (UTI) or skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI), and their cohabiting humans, sharing of faecal ESBL/AmpC producing E. coli strains was observed in four households (PT= 2/43; UK= 2/22), with strains belonging to ST2015, ST617 and ST963. Additionally, one Portuguese household shared a multidrug-resistant (MDR) ACT-24-producing Enterobacter hormaechei subsp. hoffmannii strain. Notably, three other animals shared the clinical strains with their cohabiting humans: a ST556 Klebsiella pneumoniae, the high-risk clonal lineage ST131 E. coli strain and a ST2179 E. coli classified as Avian Pathogenic (APEC). CPE strains were only detected in animals under antibiotic treatment. These strains were positive for blaOXA-181 and blaNDM-5 genes, present in plasmids virtually identical to those found in isolates from humans, food, and the environment in other countries. MDR E. coli strains harbouring the plasmid-mediated colistin resistant gene, mcr-1, were recovered from faecal samples of companion animals and humans in Portugal, with no significant difference between healthy and infected groups (p-value=0.257). In two households with dogs diagnosed with SSTIs, sharing of mcr-1-positive ST744 E. coli strains with the owner were observed. The detection of MDR bacteria sharing between companion animals and their cohabiting humans, especially when it matched the animal's UTI/SSTI clinical strain, highlights the importance of considering household-level interventions in response to the spread of antimicrobial resistance in the community, reinforcing the need for active monitoring and stringent hygiene practices under a One Health approach

2025-02-28Doctoral thesis

Open access

Companion animals-An overlooked and misdiagnosed reservoir of carbapenem resistance

Publication . da Silva, Joana Moreira; Menezes, Juliana; Marques, Cátia Filipa Saraiva; Pomba, C.

ABSTRACT - The dissemination of antimicrobial-resistance is a major global threat affecting both human and animal health. Carbapenems are human use β-lactams of last resort; thus. the dissemination of carbapenemase-producing (CP) bacteria creates severe limitations for the treatment of multidrugresistant bacteria in hospitalized patients. Even though carbapenems are not routinely used in veterinary medicine, reports of infection or colonization by carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in companion animals are being reported. NDM-5 and OXA-48-like carbapenemases are among the most frequently reported in companion animals. Like in humans, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are the most represented CP Enterobacterales found in companion animals, alongside with Acinetobacter baumannii. Considering that the detection of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales presents several difficulties, misdiagnosis of CP bacteria in companion animals may lead to important animal and public-health consequences. It is of the upmost importance to ensure an adequate monitoring and detection of CP bacteria in veterinary microbiology in order to safeguard animal health and minimise its dissemination to humans and the environment. This review encompasses an overview of the carbapenemase detection methods currently available, aiming to guide veterinary microbiologists on the best practices to improve its detection for clinical or research purposes.

2022-04-17Other

Open access