OBJECTIVE: To determine the within-host population dynamics of Campylobacter jejuni and Escherichia coli in chickens during and after treatment with fluoroquinolones. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Total and resistant faecal counts were determined from cloacal swabs during and after treatment with enrofloxacin. Chickens were housed individually to avoid confounding as a result of interaction between animals, and to be able to focus solely on the within-host dynamics. To determine the molecular basis of resistance, a number of isolates were checked for mutations in gyrA. RESULTS: Treatment with enrofloxacin at doses routinely prescribed (50 ppm) rapidly reduced the faecal counts of E. coli below the detection limit and did not induce resistance. In C. jejuni, on the other hand, treatment with enrofloxacin quickly selected for high frequencies of fluoroquinolone-resistant strains. In all phenotypically resistant isolates, resistance was traced to mutations in the gyrA gene. CONCLUSIONS: (1) A licensed dosage (50 ppm) of enrofloxacin in drinking water of chickens is effective (i.e. markedly reduced faecal counts) and is safe on a short time scale in E. coli (i.e. did not rapidly select for resistance), but is neither safe nor effective in C. jejuni. (2) The rapid emergence of resistance to quinolones in C. jejuni does not necessarily result from horizontal transmission of resistant strains among chickens, but could solely be the result of de novo selection of resistance in individual chickens.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the within-host population dynamics of Campylobacter jejuni and Escherichia coli in chickens during and after treatment with fluoroquinolones. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Total and resistant faecal counts were determined from cloacal swabs during and after treatment with enrofloxacin. Chickens were housed individually to avoid confounding as a result of interaction between animals, and to be able to focus solely on the within-host dynamics. To determine the molecular basis of resistance, a number of isolates were checked for mutations in gyrA. RESULTS: Treatment with enrofloxacin at doses routinely prescribed (50 ppm) rapidly reduced the faecal counts of E. coli below the detection limit and did not induce resistance. In C. jejuni, on the other hand, treatment with enrofloxacin quickly selected for high frequencies of fluoroquinolone-resistant strains. In all phenotypically resistant isolates, resistance was traced to mutations in the gyrA gene. CONCLUSIONS: (1) A licensed dosage (50 ppm) of enrofloxacin in drinking water of chickens is effective (i.e. markedly reduced faecal counts) and is safe on a short time scale in E. coli (i.e. did not rapidly select for resistance), but is neither safe nor effective in C. jejuni. (2) The rapid emergence of resistance to quinolones in C. jejuni does not necessarily result from horizontal transmission of resistant strains among chickens, but could solely be the result of de novo selection of resistance in individual chickens.
Authors: Brooke R Fitch; Kacey L Sachen; Stacey R Wilder; Matthew A Burg; David W Lacher; Walid T Khalife; Thomas S Whittam; Vincent B Young Journal: J Clin Microbiol Date: 2005-08 Impact factor: 5.948
Authors: Tom J Humphrey; Frieda Jørgensen; Jennifer A Frost; Haddy Wadda; Gil Domingue; Nicola C Elviss; Deborah J Griggs; Laura J V Piddock Journal: Antimicrob Agents Chemother Date: 2005-02 Impact factor: 5.191
Authors: Jonas Waldenström; Dik Mevius; Kees Veldman; Tina Broman; Dennis Hasselquist; Björn Olsen Journal: Appl Environ Microbiol Date: 2005-05 Impact factor: 4.792