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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2009, p. 113-118, Vol. 75, No. 1
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01808-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Case-Control Study To Determine whether River Water Can Spread Tetracycline Resistance to Unexposed Impala (Aepyceros melampus) in Kruger National Park (South Africa) {triangledown}

V. Mariano,1* C. M. E. McCrindle,1 B. Cenci-Goga,2 and J. A. Picard3

Department of Paraclinical Sciences,1 Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa,3 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy2

Received 5 August 2008/ Accepted 24 October 2008

A case-control study was performed in the Kruger National Park (KNP), South Africa, to find out whether impala (Aepyceros melampus) were more likely to harbor tetracycline-resistant Escherichia coli (TREC) in their feces when they drank from rivers that contained these bacteria than when they drank from rivers that were uncontaminated with TREC. The following five perennial rivers were selected: the Crocodile, the Letaba, the Olifants, the Sabie, and the Sand. Samples of river water (n = 33) and feces (n = 209), collected at 11 different sites, were cultured for E. coli. The resulting colonies were screened for tetracycline resistance by use of the Lederberg replica plating method (breakpoint, 4 mg/liter). A resistant and/or a susceptible isolate was then selected from each sample and subjected to the CLSI MIC broth microdilution test for tetracyclines. Among the 21 water specimens contaminated by E. coli, 19.05% (n = 4) were found to be resistant by the MIC method (breakpoint, ≥8 mg/liter). This led to the Crocodile, Olifants, and Letaba rivers being classified as TREC positive. Among the 209 impala feces sampled, 191 were positive for the presence of E. coli (91.38%). Within these (n = 191), 9.95% (n = 19) of the isolates were shown to be TREC by the MIC method. It was found that 1.11% (n = 1) of the E. coli isolates cultured from the feces of the control group (n = 90) were TREC, in comparison with 17.82% (n = 18) of those in feces from the exposed group (n = 101). The calculation of the odds ratio showed that impala drinking from TREC-contaminated rivers were 19.3 (2.63 to 141.69) times more likely to be infected with TREC than were unexposed impala. This is a significant finding, indicating that surface water could be a possible source of antimicrobial resistance in naïve animal populations and that impala could act as sentinels for antimicrobial resistance.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: VPH, Department of Paraclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X04, Onderstepoort 0110, South Africa. Phone: 39 334 5627351. Fax: 27 12 529 8311. E-mail: valeria_m3{at}yahoo.it

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 31 October 2008.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2009, p. 113-118, Vol. 75, No. 1
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.01808-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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