Globally disseminated human pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> of O25b‐ST131 clone, harbouring <i>bla</i> _CTX‐M‐15 , found in Glaucous‐winged gull at remote Commander Islands, Russia

Abstract

With focus on environmental dissemination of antibiotic resistance among clinically relevant bacteria, such as the rising ESBL type of resistance among Escherichia coli, we investigated antibiotic resistance levels in wild birds in the Commander Islands and Kamchatka, Russia. Despite overall low resistance levels in randomly selected E. coli (one from each sample), we found multi-resistant ESBL-producing E. coli harbouring blaCTX-M-14 and blaCTX-M-15 using selective screening. Among these multi-resistant ESBL-producing E. coli we found one blaCTX-M-15 harbouring strain belonging to the O25b-ST131 clone, recognized for its clonal disseminated worldwide as a human pathogen. The potential in acquiring resistant bacteria of human origin, especially highly pathogenic clones, as well as downstream consequences of that, should not be underestimated but further investigated.