Unveiling the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance landscape of Pantoea genus in veterinary clinical strains: Insights from a cohort study

TL;DR

This study explores the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Pantoea bacteria in animal clinical samples from the Czech Republic between 2015 and 2017.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of Pantoea genus in veterinary clinical strains.

Findings

Pantoea genus was isolated from 0.63% of 23,739 animal clinical samples.

Resistance to beta-lactam antimicrobials was detected in 12 strains.

Pantoea strains were found in horses, carnivores, and rodents with varying prevalence rates.

Abstract

The genus Pantoea, of which Pantoea agglomerans is the most common species, is an emerging Gram-negative facultative anaerobic bacillus that causes a wide range of opportunistic infections. To date, the prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and pathogenic potential of this bacterium in animals remains largely unexplored. The aim of this work was to describe the prevalence of microorganisms of the genus Pantoea in clinical samples obtained from animals during the period 2015–2017 and to define their susceptibility to antimicrobial agents. In the monitored period, a total of 23,739 clinical samples obtained from animals in the Czech Republic with symptoms of disease were tested, from which 151 Pantoea genus were isolated (prevalence 0.63 %). Cultivation and incubation were carried out under aerobic conditions by culture methods using massopeptone blood agar, Endo's agar and xylose lysine deoxycholate agar at 37 ± 1 °C for 24 h. Suspect strains were confirmed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Susceptibility testing was performed by the standard disk diffusion method using Mueller-Hinton agar. Pantoea strains were recovered from domestic horses, carnivores (dogs, cats) and rodents (prevalence of 6.78, 1.64 and 1.12 % respectively). Resistance to beta-lactam antimicrobials was detected in 12 strains. In addition to beta-lactams, resistance to co-trimoxazole was detected in 1 case and to co-trimoxazole and chloramphenicol in 1 case, highlights the need to monitor the emergence of this strain in the context of the One Health approach.

Figures