Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Antibiotic resistant Enterobacterales in Swedish dogs and cats
By Bonnevie, Anna et al.·Published in Acta veterinaria Scandinavica·2025·Department of Animal Health and Antibiotic Strategies·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: ESBL- and pAmpC-producing Enterobacterales from Swedish dogs and cats 2017-2021: a retrospective study.
Plain-English summary
A study found that antibiotic-resistant bacteria were present in 82 dogs and 23 cats in Sweden between 2017 and 2021, with urinary tract infections being the most common issue. The bacteria, mainly Escherichia coli, showed resistance to certain antibiotics, particularly in dogs, where half of the samples were multi-resistant. Fortunately, there were still effective antibiotics available for treatment based on the specific bacteria and infection site. This highlights the importance of monitoring antibiotic resistance in pets and using the right medications to ensure their health.
People also search for: dog urinary tract infection treatment · antibiotic resistance in cats · Escherichia coli in pets
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistant bacteria are a threat to both human and animal health. Of special concern are resistance mechanisms that are transmissible between bacteria, such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) and plasmid-mediated AmpC (pAmpC). ESBL/AmpC resistance is also of importance as it confers resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics including third generation cephalosporins. The Swedish Veterinary Agency (former English name National Veterinary Institute) performs confirmatory testing of suspected ESBL-/pAmpC-producing Enterobacterales. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical background, antibiotic susceptibility, and genetic relationships of confirmed isolates from dogs and cats in Sweden from 2017 to 2021. RESULTS: The study includes 92 isolates of ESBL/pAmpC-producing bacteria from 82 dogs, and 28 isolates from 23 cats. Escherichia coli was the most commonly isolated bacteria, and the most frequent sampling site was the urinary tract. From eight dogs and two cats, ESBL/pAmpC-producing bacteria were isolated on more than one occasion. Multi-resistance was more than twice as common in samples from dogs (50%) than in samples from cats (22%). Among dogs, sequence type (ST) 131 and ST372 were the dominant strains and blaand blathe dominant genes conferring reduced susceptibility to third-generation cephalosporins. Among cats, ST73 was the dominant strain and blathe dominant gene. CONCLUSIONS: Monitoring the resistance patterns and genetic relationships of bacteria over time is important to follow the results of measures taken to reduce resistance. Knowledge of the appropriate antibiotic usage is also crucial. In this study, a variety of STs and ESBL/pAmpC-genes were detected among the isolates. There were available antibiotics likely effective for treatment in all cases, based on resistance pattern, infection site and host species.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39762972/