Characterization, and comparison, of human clinical and black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus) extended-spectrum -lactamase-producing bacterial isolates from Kalmar, on the southeast coast of Sweden

Abstract

The finding of CTX-M-type ESBLs in E. coli isolated from black-headed gulls in Sweden, where 'background resistance' is low, is consistent with an ongoing environmental spread of these plasmid-borne resistance genes. The results indicate that a potential for transfer between the human population and environment exists even in countries with a low level of antibiotic resistance.