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430 Seagulls carrying ESBL producing Enterobacteriacea along the shoreline in Miami Beach, Florida

Sunday, April 3, 2011
Trinity Ballroom (Hilton Anatole)
Carolina De La Cuesta, MD , University of Miami, Miami, FL
Laurent Poirel, PhD , Hopital de Bicetre, Bicetre, France
Timothy Cleary, PhD , University of Miami, Miami, FL
Patrice Nordmann, MD, PhD , Hopital de Bicetre, Bicetre, France
Anais Potron , Hopital de Bicetre, Bicetre, France
L. Silvia Munoz-Price, MD , University of Miami, Miami, FL
Background:

During the past few years, CTX-M producing enterics have become an increasingly common cause of community acquired infections worldwide. The source of these organisms in the community still remains unclear; however, recent reports link wild animals and water reservoirs to the spread of CTX-Ms. 

Objective:

Determine the degree of enteric colonization with CTX-M producing organisms among seagulls in Miami Beach.

Methods:

During April 2010, feces from wild seagulls were collected in Miami Beach, Florida. These collections occurred weekly and were performed using sterile cotton swabs and spatulas. Samples were placed in 5mL of tryptic soy broth with a vancomycin disc (10 ug/ml) and incubated overnight at 37o. Using the McFarland turbidity test, any broth with growth was subcultured on MacConkey with a ciprofloxacin disk and ChromID ESBL plates (bioMérieux, France). After overnight incubation at 37oC, colonies were selected based on morphology and color, and further subcultured for purity. Single strains were placed on transport media and shipped to France for further workup.  

Results:

A total of 52 unique samples were collected, out of which 51 (92%) had a positive McFarland turbidity test. Eighty three enterobacterial and 20 non-enterobacterial isolates were obtained. A total of 9 of the enterics were found to be ESBL positive: 7 Escherichia coli CTX-M producers (5 CTX-M-15, 2 CTX-M-32) and 2 Enterobacter cloacae SHV-7 (also qnrS1 positive). Additionally, 14 E. coli were found to be AmpC (CMY-2) producers.

Preliminary PFGEs showed clonal diversity for the E. coli ESBL producers; however, AmpC positive E. coli were monoclonal for the most part.

Conclusions:

Eight percent of the enterics isolated from 52 unique stool samples among Miami Beach seagulls were positive for ESBL production and 17% were AmpC producers. Wild seagulls could be part of the multiple environmental reservoirs for CTX-M genes in the community.