Furness Lauren E, Campbell Amy, Zhang Lihong, Gaze William H, McDonald Robbie A
Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK; European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 3HD, UK.
Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK.
Environ Res. 2017 Apr;154:28-34. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2016.12.014. Epub 2016 Dec 22.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a serious threat to human health worldwide. We have tested the use of free-living small mammals (mice, voles and shrews) as sentinels of variation in the distribution of AMR in the environment and the potential for transmission from the natural environment to animal hosts. Escherichia coli isolated from the faeces of small mammals trapped at paired coastal and inland sites were tested for resistance to four antibiotics: trimethoprim, ampicillin, ciprofloxacin and cefotaxime. Coastal individuals were over twice as likely to carry AMR E. coli than inland individuals (79% and 35% respectively), and both between-site and between-species variation was observed. Animals from coastal populations also excreted increased numbers of AMR E. coli and a greater diversity of E. coli phylotypes, including human-associated pathogenic strains. Small mammals appear to be useful bioindicators of fine-scale spatial variation in the distribution of AMR and, potentially, of the risks of AMR transmission to mammalian hosts, including humans.
抗菌素耐药性（AMR）对全球人类健康构成严重威胁。我们测试了自由生活的小型哺乳动物（小鼠、田鼠和鼩鼱）作为环境中AMR分布变化以及从自然环境传播到动物宿主的潜在风险的哨兵的用途。从在成对的沿海和内陆地点捕获的小型哺乳动物粪便中分离出的大肠杆菌，测试了其对四种抗生素的耐药性：甲氧苄啶、氨苄青霉素、环丙沙星和头孢噻肟。沿海个体携带AMR大肠杆菌的可能性是内陆个体的两倍多（分别为79%和35%），并且观察到了地点间和物种间的差异。来自沿海种群的动物还排泄出更多数量的AMR大肠杆菌以及更丰富多样的大肠杆菌系统发育型，包括与人类相关的致病菌株。小型哺乳动物似乎是AMR分布中精细尺度空间变化以及AMR传播给包括人类在内的哺乳动物宿主的潜在风险的有用生物指标。
