Antimicrobial resistance in day-old chicks. Implications from a ¨One Health¨ approach
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Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a growing threat to global public health, and its containment requires a multisectoral “One Health” approach. This study characterized the antimicrobial resistance profiles in extraintestinal Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates from day-old chicks hatched in commercial hatcheries, sourced from commercial poultry farms in western Cuba, between 2014 and 2017. A total of 287 isolates from 68 commercial poultry farms across three provinces in western Cuba: La Habana, Artemisa and Mayabeque, were analyzed. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing included 14 therapeutically relevant antibiotics. Among the isolates, 166 exhibited variations in resistance frequency to different antibiotics, with particularly high resistance observed to Macrolides, Sulfonamides, Tetracyclines, and Quinolones. Overall, 69 % of the E. coli isolates exhibited multidrug resistance, with 41 % showing resistance to six antibiotic classes by 2017. The findings suggest possible vertical transmission from breeder flocks and environmental dissemination within hatcheries, posing risks to animal, human and environmental health. This underscores the need to strengthen microbiological surveillance and implement integrated prevention and control strategies in poultry production based on the “One Health” approach.
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National Center for Animal and Plant Health (CENSA)References
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