Abstract：
In 2012, Escherichia fergusonii harboring a heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) was isolated from healthy chickens in South Korea. However, little is known regarding the prevalence, spread, and pathogenicity of these strains in humans and animals. This study aimed to understand the public health threats, such as the distribution, antimicrobial resistance, and genetic diversity of E. fergusonii carrying LTs. E. fergusonii containing LT was isolated from 15.0% (52/346) of chicken fecal samples from all three tested chicken farms but not from 360 pig fecal samples. The antimicrobial susceptibility testing revealed that over 75% of strains were resistant to ampicillin, kanamycin, nalidixic acid, streptomycin, or tetracycline; additionally, 71.2% (37/52) of strains were resistant to all five of these antimicrobials. The 52 strains were clustered into eight pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) types, with types V and type VI accounting for 84.6% (44/52). In the present study, multiple chicken farms harbored E. fergusonii with similar antimicrobial resistance patterns and genetic clonality. Since the pathogenicity of LT-bearing E. fergusonii in humans and animals, such as food poisoning and sporadic diarrhea via meat, the transmission of the strains, and the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes are unknown, additional research is required.
摘要：
2012年，从韩国的健康鸡中分离出带有不耐热肠毒素（LT）的大肠杆菌。然而,对患病率知之甚少，传播，以及菌株对人类和动物的致病性。这项研究旨在了解公共卫生威胁，如分布，抗菌素耐药性，和携带LTs的Fergusonii的遗传多样性。含有LT的E.Fergusonii从所有三个农场的15.0%(52/346)的鸡粪便样品中分离,但不从360个猪样品中分离。药敏试验显示，超过75％的菌株对氨苄西林耐药，卡那霉素,萘啶酸,链霉素,或四环素；另外，69.2%(36/52)的菌株对这5种抗菌药物耐药。将52株菌株分为8种脉冲场凝胶电泳（PFGE）类型，V型和VI型占84.6%。根据目前的研究,多个养鸡场藏有具有相似抗菌素耐药模式和遗传克隆性的弗格森氏杆菌。由于携带LT的E.Fergusonii对人类和动物的致病性，如食物中毒和通过肉类散发性腹泻，菌株的传播，抗菌素抗性基因的传播是未知的，需要更多的研究。
