ESBL-Producing <i>Moellerella wisconsensis</i>—The Contribution of Wild Birds in the Dissemination of a Zoonotic Pathogen

<i>Moellerella wisconsensis</i> is an Enterobacteriaceae with unclarified dispersion and pathogenicity. During an ongoing investigation about antimicrobial resistance in Greece, the occurrence of <i>M. wisconsensis</i> was evaluated among wild birds and humans. A total of 445...

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Main Authors: Zoi Athanasakopoulou, Marina Sofia, Alexios Giannakopoulos, Konstantinos Papageorgiou, Dimitris C. Chatzopoulos, Vassiliki Spyrou, Evanthia Petridou, Efthymia Petinaki, Charalambos Billinis
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-01-01
Series:Animals
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/12/3/340
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Summary:<i>Moellerella wisconsensis</i> is an Enterobacteriaceae with unclarified dispersion and pathogenicity. During an ongoing investigation about antimicrobial resistance in Greece, the occurrence of <i>M. wisconsensis</i> was evaluated among wild birds and humans. A total of 445 wild bird and 2000 human fecal samples were collected and screened for the presence of the organism. Subsequently, all <i>M. wisconsensis</i> strains were phenotypically and molecularly characterized regarding their antimicrobial resistance characteristics. Four <i>M. wisconsensis</i> were isolated from a common pheasant (<i>Phasianus colchicus</i>), two Eurasian magpies (<i>Pica pica</i>) and a great white-fronted goose (<i>Anser albifrons</i>). Among these four strains, the three latter presented resistance to 3rd generation cephalosporins, were phenotypically confirmed to produce ESBLs and were found to harbor <i>bla</i><sub>CTX-M-1</sub>. The three ESBL isolates additionally exhibited resistance to tetracyclines, while resistance to aminoglycosides was detected in two of them and to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole in one. No <i>Moellerella wisconsensis</i> strains were retrieved from the human samples tested. This is the first report that provides evidence of <i>M. wisconsensis</i> dissemination among wild birds in Greece, describing CTX-M-1 production in multidrug resistant wild birds’ isolates of this bacterial species.
ISSN:2076-2615