Distribution and antibiotic resistance profiles of Salmonella enterica in rural areas of North Carolina after Hurricane Florence in 2018
GeoHealth • 2020
Publication Information
Authors
Yuqing Mao, Mohamed Zeineldin, Moiz Usmani, Sital Uprety, Joanna L Shisler, Antarpreet Jutla, Avinash Unnikrishnan, Thanh H Nguyen
Keywords
Not Available
Journal
GeoHealth
Publisher
Not Available
Volume
Not Available
Issue
Not Available
Pages
Not Available
publication.type
International
Paper Link
Not Available
Supplementary Materials
Not Available
Abstract
In this study, water samples were analyzed from a rural area of North Carolina after Hurricane Florence in 2018 and the distribution of the ttrC virulence gene of Salmonella enterica were investigated. We also examined the distribution of culturable S. enterica and determined their antibiotic resistance profiles. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the classes of aminoglycoside, beta-lactam, and macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLSB) were targeted in this study. The ttrC gene was detected in 23 out of 25 locations. There was a wider and higher range of the ttrC gene in flooded water versus unflooded water samples (0–2.12 × 105 copies/L vs. 0–4.86 × 104 copies/L). Culturable S. enterica was isolated from 10 of 25 sampling locations, which was less prevalent than the distribution of the ttrC gene. The antibiotic resistance profiles were not distinct among the S. enterica isolates. The aminoglycoside resistance gene aac(6')-Iy had the highest relative abundance (around 0.05 copies/16S rRNA gene copy in all isolates) among all ARGs. These findings suggested that the 2018 flooding event led to higher copy numbers of the ttrC genes of S. enterica in some flooded water bodies compared to those in unflooded water bodies. The high ARG level and similar ARG profiles were observed in all S. enterica isolates from both flooded and unflooded samples, suggesting that the antibiotic resistance was prevalent in S. enterica within this region, regardless of flooding.
Staff Members - Benha University