Antimicrobial susceptibility monitoring of canine and feline skin and ear pathogens isolated from European veterinary clinics: results of the ComPath Surveillance programme

Background The ComPath project is a pan-European programme dedicated to the monitoring of antimicrobial susceptibility of canine and feline pathogens using standardized methods and centralized minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination. Objectives To report antimicrobial susceptibilities of major pathogens isolated from nontreated animals with acute clinical signs of skin, wound or ear infections in 2013-2014. Methods and materials MICs were determined by agar dilution for commonly used drugs and interpreted using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) breakpoints, if available. Results Of 1,676 isolates recovered, the main species isolated from dogs wereStaphylococcus pseudintermedius, followed byStreptococcusspp.,Pseudomonas aeruginosaandEscherichia coli. In cats,Pasteurella multocida, coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) andStaphylococcus aureuswere isolated most frequently. Resistance rates observed forS. pseudintermediuswere <26.7% for penicillin, clindamycin and chloramphenicol, and <= 11.5% for ampicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanate, cephalexin, cefovecin, gentamicin and fluoroquinolones. ForS. aureus, resistance rates ranged up to 90.9% for beta-lactams, and were 19.7% for clindamycin, 27% for fluoroquinolones and 0.0-6.1% for other drugs. ThemecAgene was confirmed by PCR in 10.6% ofS. pseudintermedius, 11.6% of CoNS and 31.4% ofS. aureusisolates. In streptococci/enterococci, resistance to penicillin, ampicillin and chloramphenicol ranged from 0.0% to 11.3%, whereas fluoroquinolone resistance ranged from 0.0% to 8.5%. ForE. coli, resistance ranged from 13.8 to 15.9% for fluoroquinolones and from 86.2% to 100.0% for beta-lactams. Low rates of resistance (0.0-6.3%) were observed inP. multocida, and forP. aeruginosaresistance to gentamicin was 10.3%. Conclusion Overall, antimicrobial resistance of cutaneous/otic pathogens isolated from dogs and cats was low (1-10%) to moderate (10-20%). For several pathogens, the paucity of CLSI recommended breakpoints for veterinary use is a bottleneck.