Molecular characterization of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli isolates from broiler farms in Northern Palestinian territories

Vet World Vol.17 December-2024 Article - 16

Research Article

Veterinary World, 17(12): 2865-2879

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.2865-2879

Ghaleb Adwan^1†, Sameh Abuseir^2†, Ghadeer Omar¹, and Mahmoud Albzour³

1. Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Molecular Microbiology/Virology, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestinian Territories.
2. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestinian Territories.
3. Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Graduate Studies, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestinian Territories.
†The first two authors contributed equally to this work

Background and Aim: Colibacillosis is caused by avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), which results in significant losses for the poultry sector. It has zoonotic potential and acts as a source of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes for other E. coli. This study aimed to assess phylogenetic groups, virulence factors, and resistance phenotypes of APEC strains isolated from broiler farms in Northern Palestine.

Materials and Methods: A total of 65 APEC isolates were recovered from diseased chickens with typical colibacillosis symptoms from broiler farms located in the northern region of Palestine from May to July 2024. Strains were identified using classical and molecular techniques. Antibiotic resistance was detected using the disk diffusion method. Phylotyping and virulence genotyping of the APEC isolates were performed using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Results: This study showed a high detection rate of APEC strains (100%) in chickens. The most APEC strains, 56/65 (86.2%), belonged to group D. Other strains were assigned to groups B2 (5/65, 7.7%), B1 (3/65, 4.6%), and A (1/65, 1.5%). Antibiotic resistance ranged from 27.7% for Polymyxin E (colistin) to 100% for Amoxicillin. Polymyxin E (colistin) and fosfomycin are the most effective drugs. The most common virulence gene was iroN, which was detected in 61 isolates (93.8%). The APEC strains in Palestine exhibit a wide variety of resistance patterns and genetic variations.

Conclusion: Controlling APEC infections is essential for public health, especially when APEC isolates can pass on resistance and virulence genes to dangerous bacteria such as E. coli that are particular to humans. It is essential to understand APEC pathogenesis, antimicrobial therapy, and the development of measures to control colibacillosis.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, avian pathogenic Escherichia coli, colibacillosis, Palestinian territories, phylogenetic group, virulence factors.

How to cite this article: Adwan G, Abuseir S, Omar G, and Albzour M (2024) Molecular characterization of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli isolates from broiler farms in Northern Palestinian territories, Veterinary World, 17(12): 2865-2879.

Received: 2024-09-06 Accepted: 2024-11-18 Published online: 2024-12-19

Corresponding author: Ghaleb Adwan and Sameh Abuseir E-mail: adwang@najah.edu and sameh.abuseir@najah.edu

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.2865-2879

Copyright: Adwan, 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.