Research

Occurrence of antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens and indicator bacteria in pigs in different European countries from year 2002 – 2004: the ARBAO-II study

Rene S Hendriksen¹ , Dik J Mevius² , Andreas Schroeter³ , Christopher Teale⁴ , Eric Jouy⁵ , Patrick Butaye⁶ , Alessia Franco⁷ , Andra Utinane⁸ , Alice Amado⁹ , Miguel Moreno¹⁰ , Christina Greko¹¹ , Katharina DC Stärk¹² , Christian Berghold¹³ , Anna-Liisa Myllyniemi¹⁴ , Andrzej Hoszowski¹⁵ , Marianne Sunde¹⁶ and Frank M Aarestrup¹

¹National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Bülowsvej 27, DK-1790 Copenhagen V, Denmark

²Central Institute for Animal Disease Control, PO Box 2004, Edelhertweg 15, 8203 Lelystad, The Netherlands

³Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Postfach 330013, Diedersdorferweg 1, 14191 Berlin, Germany

⁴Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Kendal Road, Harlescott, SY1 4HD, Shrewsbury, UK

⁵Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments, AFSSA Ploufragan – LERAP, Zoopole, Les Croix, 22440 Ploufragan, France

⁶Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Groeselenberg 99, B-1180 Ukkel, Belgium

⁷Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana, Via Appia Nuova 1411, 00178 Roma, Italy

⁸State Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Centre of Food and Veterinary Service, Lejupes 3, 1076 Riga, Latvia

⁹Laboratorio National de Investigacáo Veterinaria, Estrada de Benfica 701, 1549-011 Lisboa, Portugal

¹⁰Complutense University of Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain

¹¹National Veterinary Institute, Travv. 20, 75189 Uppsala, Sweden

¹²Bundesamt für Veterinärwesen, Schwarzenburgstrasse 161, 3003 Bern, Switzerland

¹³Agency for Health and Food Safety, Beethovenstrasse 6, A-8010 Graz, Austria

¹⁴Finnish Food Safety Authority, PO Box 45, Hameentie 57, 00581 Helsinki, Finland

¹⁵National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow 57, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland

¹⁶National Veterinary Institute, PO Box 8156 Dep, Ullevaalsveien 68, 0033 Oslo, Norway

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Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2008, 50:19doi:10.1186/1751-0147-50-19

Published:	13 June 2008

Abstract

Background

The project "Antibiotic resistance in bacteria of animal origin – II" (ARBAO-II) was funded by the European Union (FAIR5-QLK2-2002-01146) for the period 2003–05. The aim of this project was to establish a program for the continuous monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility of pathogenic and indicator bacteria from food animals using validated and harmonised methodologies. In this report the first data on the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance among bacteria causing infections in pigs are reported.

Methods

Susceptibility data from 17,642 isolates of pathogens and indicator bacteria including Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Streptococcus suis and Escherichia coli isolated from pigs were collected from fifteen European countries in 2002–2004.

Results

Data for A. pleuropneumoniae from infected pigs were submitted from five countries. Most of the isolates from Denmark were susceptible to all drugs tested with the exceptions of a low frequency of resistance to tetracycline and trimethoprim – sulphonamide.

Data for S. suis were obtained from six countries. In general, a high level of resistance to tetracycline (48.0 – 92.0%) and erythromycin (29.1 – 75.0%) was observed in all countries whereas the level of resistance to ciprofloxacin and penicillin differed between the reporting countries. Isolates from England (and Wales), France and The Netherlands were all susceptible to penicillin. In contrast the proportion of strains resistant to ciprofloxacin ranged from 12.6 to 79.0% (2004) and to penicillin from 8.1 – 13.0% (2004) in Poland and Portugal.

Data for E. coli from infected and healthy pigs were obtained from eleven countries. The data reveal a high level of resistance to tetracyclines, streptomycin and ampicillin among infected pigs whereas in healthy pigs the frequency of resistance was lower.

Conclusion

Bacterial resistance to some antimicrobials was frequent with different levels of resistance being observed to several antimicrobial agents in different countries. The occurrence of resistance varied distinctly between isolates from healthy and diseased pigs, with the isolates from healthy pigs generally showing a lower level of resistance than those from diseased pigs.

The study suggests that the choice of antimicrobials used for the treatment of diseased animals should preferably be based on knowledge of the local pattern of resistance.