Characterisation of Porcine Enteropathogenic Escherichia Coli Isolated in Northeastern India.

INTRODUCTION: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is one of the main pathotypes causing gastroenteritis, particularly in young immunocompromised hosts. The study reports the prevalence, characterisation, and molecular epidemiology of EPEC from piglets in northeastern India. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 457 faecal samples were collected, from which 1,286 E. coli strains were isolated and screened by PCR. The resultant EPEC strains were serotyped and phenotypically characterised for resistance against 15 antimicrobials. Also, the phylogenetic sequence was analysed for 11 selected strains. RESULTS: A total of 42 strains (3.26%) belonged to atypical EPEC, of which, 15 (35.71%, and 2.29% of the 654 strains from this farm type) were isolated from organised and 27 (64.29%, and 4.27% of the 632 strains from this farm type) from unorganised farms; further, 5 (11.90% of the EPEC strains and 1.51% of the 330 strains from this breed) were isolated from the indigenous breeds and 37 (88.10%, and 3.87% of the 956 strains from this breed) from crossbred piglets. Serogroups O111 (11.9%) and O118 (7.14%) were the most prevalent of the 10 present. Sequence analysis of a length of the eaeA gene of 11 isolates of the region showed them to have 100% homology with each other and their identity ranged from 99.4% to 99.7% with GenBank reference sequences. All the EPEC isolates were multi-drug resistant, showing the highest resistance to amoxicillin (80.9%) and cephalexin (76.19%). CONCLUSION: The study highlighted the association of EPEC with piglet's diarrhoea in northeastern India. EPEC isolates belonged to many serotypes and phenotypically all were multi-drug resistant with close genetic homology.

An outbreak of Goatpox virus infection in Wild Red Serow (Capricornis rubidus) in Mizoram, India.

Goatpox virus (GTPV) belongs to the genus Capripoxvirus associated with characteristic clinical lesions in fully susceptible breeds of sheep and goats. To date, there is no report of outbreaks of GTPV infection in any wild animals. This study reports the outbreak of GTPV infection in wild Red Serow (Capricornis rubidus.) in Mizoram, India. A total of 113 wild Serow carcasses were recovered from seven districts of Mizoram between May 2015 to October 2016. A postmortem revealed presumptive pox-like lesions. Clinical specimens (lung, skin, and trachea) were examined for the aetiological agents. GTPV could be isolated in PLT cells and confirmed in PCR assays by targeting RPO30 and P32 genes. The genetic and phylogenetic analysis reveled that over 99.8% sequence identity with GTPV from India and other parts of the world. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of GTPV infection in wild ruminants.

Multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus pettenkoferi isolated from cat in India.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) are considered to be one of the emerging pathogens in human and animals in recent times. Staphylococcus pettenkoferi, a novel pathogen under CoNS, is discovered in 2002 in humans with multiple clinical manifestations in various patients. To date, the pathogens have not yet been reported from any animals. The present study reported the first ever isolation, identification, and characterization of multidrug-resistant S. pettenkoferi from a cat with peritonitis in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peritoneal fluid was collected aseptically from 3 years old cat processed for bacteriological culture by standard techniques. Isolates were confirmed by BD Phoenix™ automated bacterial identification system and were subjected to plate and tube coagulase tests. All the isolates were tested for antimicrobial sensitivity profile by disc diffusion assay, extended-spectrum ß-lactamase production by double disc diffusion assay, in vitro biofilm production ability by microtiter plate assay, and detection of virulence genes and mecA gene by polymerase chain reaction assay. RESULTS: A total of five clonally expanded isolates of S. pettenkoferi were isolated from peritoneal fluid of the affected cat. All the isolates were resistant against 36 antimicrobial agents and were also methicillin-resistant staphylococci. Phenotypically, all the isolates were negative for biofilm production but were carrying multiple biofilm-producing genes (icaA, IS257, nuc, and mecA). CONCLUSION: Although S. pettenkoferi was previously reported once from animal (cat) environment, this is probably the first ever report of isolation of the organism directly from any animals. This is also probably the first report from any species in India.

ESBL-producing Shiga-toxigenic E. coli (STEC) associated with piglet diarrhoea in India.

The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli carrying other virulence genes associated with piglet diarrhoea. Faecal samples from the piglets with history of diarrhoea were processed for isolation of E. coli and were tested for their ability of ESBL production. ESBL encoding genes and other virulence genes were detected by specific PCR, and amplicons were sequenced. Ability of transferring the ESBL genes between the enteric bacteria was tested in in vitro HGT. A total of 170 E. coli was isolated, of which 43 (25.29 %) were confirmed as ESBL producer by double disc synergy test (DDST). Altogether, 6.47 and 2.94 % isolates were positive for bla TEM and bla CTX-M-15 genes, respectively, of which 2.35 % isolates were positive for both the genes and only 0.6 % isolate was positive for the bla CTX-M gene alone. The resistance traits could not be transferred to the recipient host. Based on PCR, 2 (1.18 %) and 1 (0.59 %) isolates were recorded as Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), respectively. Both the STEC (one isolate positive for stx 2 and another positive for stx 2 and hlyA) isolates belonging to serogroup O2 and NT were also positive for the bla CTX-M-15 gene. This is the first report of ESBL-producing E. coli isolate possessing the STEC gene associated with piglet diarrhoea.