Summary: | Due to the global progress of antimicrobial resistance, the World Health Organization
(WHO) published the list of the antibiotic-resistant “priority pathogens” in order to promote research
and development of new antibiotics to the families of bacteria that cause severe and often deadly
infections. In the framework of the One Health approach, the surveillance of these pathogens in
different environments should be implemented in order to analyze their spread and the potential risk
of transmission of antibiotic resistances by food and water. Therefore, the objective of this work was
to determine the presence of high and critical priority pathogens included in the aforementioned list
in different aquatic environments in the POCTEFA area (North Spain–South France). In addition to
these pathogens, detection of colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae was included due its relevance
as being the antibiotic of choice to treat infections caused by multidrug resistant bacteria (MDR).
From the total of 80 analyzed samples, 100% of the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and
collectors (from hospitals and slaughterhouses) and 96.4% of the rivers, carried antibiotic resistant
bacteria (ARB) against the tested antibiotics. Fifty-five (17.7%) of the isolates were identified as target
microorganisms (high and critical priority pathogens of WHO list) and 58.2% (n = 32) of them came
from WWTPs and collectors. Phenotypic and genotypic characterization showed that 96.4% were
MDR and resistance to penicillins/cephalosporins was the most widespread. The presence of bla genes,
KPC-type carbapenemases, mcr-1 and vanB genes has been confirmed. In summary, the presence
of clinically relevant MDR bacteria in the studied aquatic environments demonstrates the need to
improve surveillance and treatments of wastewaters from slaughterhouses, hospitals and WWTPs,
in order to minimize the dispersion of resistance through the effluents of these areas.
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