Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran; Research Department of Zoological Innovations, Institute of Applied Zoology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
Vet Ital. 2024 Jul 31;60(2). doi: 10.12834/VetIt.2984.22731.2.
Wild passerine birds may serve as environmental reservoirs and as vectors for the long-distance dispersal of microorganisms and resistance determinants. However, there is no much knowledge on pathogenic bacteria in wild birds in Iran. The present study aimed to analyze antibiotic resistance in wild passerine birds collected from the northeast region of Iran as the rich breeding bird fauna with a special focus on Escherichia coli virulence, integron, and phylogenetic groups. A total of 326 isolates were collected and identified from the cloaca of wild birds using a swab. The results showed a high percentage of resistance to tetracycline (45.8%) and ampicillin (26.7%). The resistance genes, tet(A), tet(B), tet(M), and tet(L) were detected in tetracycline-resistant isolates, while the blaTEM gene was the most prevalent in ampicillin-resistant isolates (38.6%). Out of the 129 E. coli isolates examined, 99 isolates were found to have virulence gene, with the highest prevalence of the fimbriae (fimH) gene (22.4%). Additionally, the E. coli strains were most often classified into phylogenetic groups B1 (48.8%) followed by B2 (19.3%). Also, the highest average frequency of class 1 integron was detected among our isolates. Results indicated that wild birds are reservoirs of multidrug resistance and virulence genes that may have the potential to be transferred to other organisms, including humans.
野生雀形目鸟类可能作为环境储层，并作为微生物和耐药决定因素的远距离传播的载体。然而，人们对伊朗野生鸟类中的致病菌知之甚少。本研究旨在分析从伊朗东北部地区采集的野生雀形目鸟类中的抗生素耐药性，这些地区是丰富的繁殖鸟类区系，特别关注大肠杆菌的毒力、整合子和系统发育群。使用拭子从野生鸟类的泄殖腔中收集并鉴定了 326 株分离株。结果显示，对四环素（45.8%）和氨苄西林（26.7%）的耐药率较高。在四环素耐药株中检测到耐药基因 tet(A)、tet(B)、tet(M)和 tet(L)，而氨苄西林耐药株中最常见的blaTEM 基因（38.6%）。在检查的 129 株大肠杆菌分离株中，发现 99 株具有毒力基因，其中菌毛（fimH）基因的流行率最高（22.4%）。此外，大肠杆菌菌株最常分为 B1 组（48.8%），其次是 B2 组（19.3%）。此外，我们的分离株中检测到的 1 类整合子的平均频率最高。结果表明，野生鸟类是多药耐药性和毒力基因的储库，这些基因可能有潜力转移到其他生物体，包括人类。
