Multi-drug resistant gram-negative enteric bacteria isolated from flies at Chengdu Airport, China.

We collected flies from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport to examine for the presence of bacteria and to determine the sensitivity patterns of those bacteria. A total of 1,228 flies were collected from 6 sites around Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport from April to September 2011. The predominant species was Chrysomya megacephala (n=276, 22.5%). Antimicrobial-resistant gram-negative enteric bacteria (n=48) were isolated from flies using MacConkey agar supplemented with cephalothin (20 microg/ml). These were identified as Escherichia coli (n=37), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=6), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=3) and Aeromonas hydrophila (n=2). All isolated bacteria were tested for resistance to 21 commonly used antimicrobials: amoxicillin (100%), ticarcillin (100%), cephalothin (100%), cefuroxime (100%), ceftazidime 1 (93.8%), piperacillin (93.8%), cefotaxime (89.6%), ticarcillin-clavulanate (81.3%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (62.5%), ciprofloxacin (54.2%), gentamicin (45.8%), cefepime (39.6%), tobramycin (39.6%), ceftazidime (22.9%), cefoxitin (16.7%), amikacin (16.7%), netilmicin (14.6%), amoxicillin-clavulanate (6.3%) and piperacillin-tazobactam (2.1%). No resistance to meropenem or imipenem was observed. Antibiotic resistance genes among the isolated bacteria were analyzed for by polymerase chain reaction. Thirty of the 48 bacteria with resistance (62.5%) possessed the blaTEM gene.