Prevalence of Pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica Strains on Liver Surfaces of Pigs and Their Antimicrobial Susceptibility

A study to determine the occurrence of pathogenic Yersinia enterocolinca on surfaces of slaughtered pig livers and the antimicrobial resistant pattern of the isolates was earned out in a slaughterhouse in Lower Saxony. Germany During the slaughtering process. 1,500 surfaces of pig livers from 50 fattening herds were swabbed in order to isolate and characterize Y enterocolitica isolates by serotyping. detecting the virulence plasmid coding the yopT gene, and resistance testing. Of the livers tested, 4.7% were positive for Y enterocolitica 0.3, which was the only identified serotype The virulence gene yopT was found in 90 0% of these isolates Antimicrobial susceptibility was tested by the broth dilution method, and the M1Cs were determined for 13 antimicrobials. All isolates were resistant to ampicillin and sulfamethoxazole but were susceptible to ciprofloxacm, nalidixic acid. gentamicin, cefiiofur. tetracycline, kanamycin. cefotaxime, and chlorphemcol. Up to now, resistance to florfenicol has always been described in combination with resistance to chloramphenicol In the present study, 15 3% of the isolates were resistant to florfenicol. while no chloramphenicol-resistant strains could be identified. Multiresistance to three or more antimicrobials was detected in 22 strains (27.3%). Nevertheless, third-generation cephalosporines or fluoroquinolones, which were recommended for extraintestinal Y enterocolitica infection in humans, were not affected