Increasing prevalence of extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli in food animals and the diversity of CTX-M genotypes during 2003-2012

•CTX-M in 2815 Escherichia coli from food animals in China increased during 2003-2012.•Eighteen different types of CTX-M (including 4 novel enzymes) were identified.•CTX-M-14, CTX-M-55, and CTX-M-65 were the most dominant genotypes.•A rapidly growing proportion of CTX-M-55 over time was observed.•Fosfomycin resistance in CTX-M-producing isolates increased dramatically.

The aim of this study was to investigate the trends and the diversity of CTX-M types of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) in Escherichia coli isolated from food animals in China over a ten-year period. From 2003 to 2012, 2815 E. coli isolates collected from diseased animals (chickens, pigs, and waterfowl) were screened for the prevalence of CTX-M genes. CTX-M-positive isolates were tested for their susceptibilities to 10 antimicrobial agents and the clonal relationship of CTX-M-producing E. coli isolates was also assessed. Overall, 677 (20.1%) of the 2815 E. coli isolates carried CTX-M genes. Eighteen different types of CTX-M ESBLs were identified, with CTX-M-14, CTX-M-55, and CTX-M-65 being the most dominant genotypes. The occurrence of CTX-M-producing E. coli increased significantly from 5.7% in 2003-2005 to 35.3% in 2009-2012 (p < 0.0001). High genetic heterogeneities were observed in the CTX-M-producing E. coli isolates. Most CTX-M-producing strains were also resistant to other classes of antimicrobials. Compared to isolates carrying CTX-M-9 subgroup of ESBLs, isolates carrying CTX-M-1 subgroup ESBLs showed significantly higher resistance rates to ceftazidime, amikacin, and fosfomycin (p < 0.01). The study reported the dramatic increase of CTX-M ESBLs in E. coli isolated from animals overtime in China. The increasing incidence of CTX-M-55 with high hydrolytic activity against ceftazidime and the widely spread co-resistance in CTX-M-producing isolates alarm the serious antimicrobial resistance situation in China and highlight the need for urgent control strategies to limit the dissemination of those resistant genes in China.