Vet World   Vol.15   May-2022  Article-6

Extended-spectrum-beta-lactamases and carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from fresh produce farms in different governorates of Egypt

Background and Aim: Fresh produce farms represents a major source of concern since they are becoming increasingly antibiotic resistant. This study aimed to investigate t he occurrence of carbapenemase and extended-spectrum-beta-lactamases (ESBL) - producing genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from fresh produce farms in Egypt, irrigation water, and people working in these fields.

Materials and Methods: One hundred tomatoes from typical farms were collected in plastic bags. The study also included 20 surface-water samples from different irrigation watersheds in fresh produce farms, as well as 50 feces samples from farmworkers. Suspected K. pneumoniae was grown on Eosin Methylene Blue agar for 24 h before being biochemically identified using the RapID ONE test. PCR was used to detect carbapenemase (blaKPC, blaOXA-48, and blaNDM) and ESBL (blaSHV, blaTEM, and blaCTX) expressing genes on isolates.

Results: K. pneumoniae was identified in 30% of water and 10% of worker samples, while only one isolate was found in tomato samples. One of the six irrigation water isolates tested positive for carbapenem-resistant NDM. In contrast, two isolates tested positive for ESBL determinants, one of which was blaSHV and the other having both blaSHV and blaTEM genes. Two of the five K. pneumoniae isolates from farmworkers were positive for blaNDM, with one isolate also testing positive for blaSHV and blaTEM. The blaOXA-48 gene was also discovered in the carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae tomato isolate used in this study.

Conclusion: Carbapenemase- and ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae were found in fresh produce farms, implying that these resistance genes were being passed down to Egyptian consumers. Keywords: carbapenemase, extended-spectrum-beta-lactamases, fresh produce, humans, irrigation water, Klebsiella pneumonia.

Keywords: carbapenemase, extended-spectrum-beta-lactamases, fresh produce, humans, irrigation water, Klebsiella pneumonia.

How to cite this article: Elshafiee EA, Kadry M, Nader SM, Ahmed ZS (2022) Extended-spectrum-beta-lactamases and carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from fresh produce farms in different governorates of Egypt, Veterinary World, 15(4): 1191-1196.

Received: 09-12-2021  Accepted: 21-03-2022     Published online: 18-05-2022

Corresponding author: Mona Kadry   E-mail: mona.kadry.mohamed@cu.edu.eg

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.1191-1196

Copyright: Elshafiee, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.