Extended spectrum beta-lactamases detected in Escherichia coli from gulls in Stockholm, Sweden

摘要

Bacterial antibiotic resistance is the cause of excess morbidity and mortality as well as huge economic costs for health care systems worldwide (1). Many bacteria, such as Escherichia coli can colonise and/or cause infection in many different animal species, including humans, and zoonotic transmission has been shown to occur. Antibiotic resistance is also a well-recognised clinical challenge in many domestic mammals (2) and in recent years bacteria displaying resistance phenotypes have also been isolated from wild mammals (3) and birds (including birds sampled in the Baltic and Mediterranean regions) (4–9). As wild animal species are unlikely to have received antibiotic treatments, it suggests that transmission has occurred either from contact with waste from infected humans or domestic animals. Identical antibiotic resistance traits have been found in gulls close to human settlements as in local hospital patient samples (6, 7), and ESBL antibiotic resistance may be found in domestic animals and are particularly common in poultry (10).