A survey of β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli in farm animals and raw retail meat in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

We surveyed β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli from farm animals (chickens, pigs, and cattle) and raw retail meat in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. In total 305 E. coli isolates, 15 isolates collected from broilers, beef cattle, chicken meat, and pork meat, were found to have β-lactamase genes encoding CTX-M-2, CTX-M-14, CMY-2, SHV-2, and/or TEM-1, whereas 7 possessed mutations in the ampC promoter region. The findings suggest that broilers are more important than other farm animals with regards to the surveillance of β-lactamase-producing E. coli in this region.