Hung Desiree, Elsohaby Ibrahim, Hill Fraser, Ferguson Andrew, McDermott Colin T
Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Jockey Club of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jul 11;15(14):2042. doi: 10.3390/ani15142042.
With the increase in keeping exotic companion mammals as pets, concerns about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its impact on animal and human health are growing. Guinea pigs, a popular pet in Hong Kong and globally, have limited studies regarding antimicrobial culture and sensitivity results. We reviewed bacteriologic and antimicrobial sensitivity results from clinically ill pet guinea pigs from 2019 to 2023 using data from the City University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Of the 234 clinical samples from 22 veterinary clinics in Hong Kong, 134 (57.3%) showed positive bacterial growth, of which 23 (17.2%) showed mixed bacterial growth. In total, 156 bacterial isolates were identified. Gram-positive bacteria ( = 104, 66.7%) were most commonly recovered, representing 25 bacterial species, most commonly spp., spp., and spp. The majority of positive samples were from the integument (43.6%) and urinary tract (33.8%). A total of 85.9% of all isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent, with over 40% of isolates exhibiting resistance to three or more antimicrobial agents, and 27.6% were multidrug resistant (resistant to at least one agent in three or more antimicrobial classes). High resistance rates were observed for penicillin (45.6%), gentamicin (43.7%), doxycycline (42.1%), and azithromycin (36.3%). In contrast, isolates were highly susceptible to ceftazidime (84.1%), chloramphenicol (82.6%), ciprofloxacin (72.7%), and marbofloxacin (72.2%). These findings highlight the high frequency of AMR in this population of clinically ill pet guinea pigs in Hong Kong and the need for informed and judicious antimicrobial use.
随着将外来伴侣哺乳动物作为宠物饲养的情况增多，对抗菌素耐药性（AMR）及其对动物和人类健康影响的担忧也在增加。豚鼠是香港及全球流行的宠物，但关于其抗菌培养和药敏结果的研究有限。我们利用城市大学兽医诊断实验室的数据，回顾了2019年至2023年临床患病宠物豚鼠的细菌学和抗菌药敏结果。在来自香港22家兽医诊所的234份临床样本中，134份（57.3%）显示细菌生长阳性，其中23份（17.2%）显示混合细菌生长。总共鉴定出156株细菌分离株。革兰氏阳性菌（n = 104，66.7%）最常被分离出来，代表25种细菌，最常见的是葡萄球菌属、链球菌属和肠球菌属。大多数阳性样本来自体表（43.6%）和泌尿道（33.8%）。所有分离株中，共有85.9%对至少一种抗菌药物耐药，超过40%的分离株对三种或更多抗菌药物耐药，27.6%为多重耐药（对三种或更多抗菌药物类别中的至少一种药物耐药）。青霉素（45.6%）、庆大霉素（43.7%）、强力霉素（42.1%）和阿奇霉素（36.3%）的耐药率较高。相比之下，分离株对头孢他啶（84.1%）、氯霉素（82.6%）、环丙沙星（72.7%）和马波沙星（72.2%）高度敏感。这些发现凸显了香港这群临床患病宠物豚鼠中AMR的高频率，以及明智和审慎使用抗菌药物的必要性。
