A high level of antibiotic resistance in Klebsiella and Aeromonas isolates from street water sold in Mozambique, associated with the prevalence of extended-spectrum and AmpC ß-lactamases

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the resistance profile and the prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes in 30 isolates of Klebsiella spp. and Aeromonas spp. recovered from water sold in the streets of Maputo. Susceptibility profiles to 15 antibiotics were performed according to Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute guidelines with antibiotic disks on Mueller-Hinton agar plates. Multiplex PCRs were performed targeting 10 ß-lactamase genes, five ESBL (bla_TEM-variants, bla_OXA-variants, Bla_SHV-variants, MCTX-_M Group 1 and Group 9 variants) and five AmpC (ACC variants, FOX variants, MOX variants, CIT variants and DHA variants). The results showed a high prevalence of Klebsiella resistance to ß-lactam antibiotics, such as amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (62.5%), amoxicillin (56.3%), ampicillin (50%), cefoxitin (43.8%), and cefotaxime (43.8%). Aeromonas showed resistance to cefoxitin and ampicillin (71.4%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (57.1%) and imipenem (42.9%). ESBL bla_OXA-variants, bla_SVH-variants, MCTX-M Group 1 variants, and MCTX-M Group 9 variants were the most prevalent b-lactam genes, followed by the b-lactams AmpC, ACC variants and FOX variants. It is extremely important to improve waterborne disease control strategies, especially in terms of public awareness of the potential health implications of multidrug-resistant strains of Klebsiella and Aeromonas, which are often neglected.

Keywords:

• Maputo
• multidrug-resistant enterobacteriaceae
• multiplex PCR
• water supply chain
• gastroenteritis
• aquatic environments
• home-bottled water

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Ana Carla Silva for the support with the work performed in Laboratory of Microbiology (ISA/ULisboa) and the authors thank project PORBIOTA - Portuguese E-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022127), Operational Thematic Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its Appendix.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the scholarship grants which reference PRT/BD/151521/2021, and institutional support of project UIDB/04129/2020 of LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, Research Unit.