title: Plasmid diversity of multi-drug-resistant Escherichia coli isolated from children with diarrhoea in a poultry-farming area in Kenya.
abstract: Biotin-labelled DNA probes and restriction-endonuclease digestion (RED) with HindIII were used to study the diversity of resistance plasmids (R-plasmids) from 414 Escherichia coli isolates: 168 from children living in close contact with antibiotic-fed poultry and 246 from the chickens. Full sensitivity to all 10 antimicrobials tested was more common in the isolates from poultry than in those from the children (36.2% v. 9.5%; P < 0.001). Multi-drug resistance, to at least two of the antimicrobials, was relatively common in the isolates from the children (85.5% v. 26.00%; P < 0.001). Overall, 31% of the poultry isolates were resistant to tetracycline alone. Resistance to amoxycillin was due to production of TEM-1 (89%) and TEM-2 (11%). In > 71% of the isolates from children and 79% of those from poultry, resistance was encoded on a 100-110-kb transferable plasmid belonging to incompatibility group FII. However, RED patterns of R-plasmids from the two groups of isolates were highly diverse and not indicative of any close relatedness. This difference in patterns and in the levels of multi-drug resistance indicate that the isolates from the children and those from the poultry represent two distinct pools of resistance plasmids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Genito-Urinary Medicine, University of Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kariuki
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Gilks
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kimari
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muyodi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Waiyaki
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hart
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology*; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial / Q000235:genetics; D018432:Drug Resistance, Multiple / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007630:Kenya; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D011815:R Factors / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001618:beta-Lactamases