Cross-sectional observational study reports high antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis from food products, indicating a public health concern.
BACKGROUND: The dissemination of antibacterial-resistant microorganisms and resistance genes via food products represents a significant threat to global public health. AIM: The study aimed to conduct epidemiological monitoring of antibiotic-resistant bacteria isolated from food products in the Kyrgyz Republic through the study of their phenotypic and genotypic susceptibility profiles. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional observational study. Microorganism species identification was performed using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Phenotypic susceptibility to 35 antimicrobial agents was assessed by minimum inhibitory concentration testing. Genes conferring resistance to antimicrobial agents were detected by whole-genome sequencing. RESULTS: The study subjects were antibiotic-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (n = 16) and Enterococcus faecalis (n = 36) isolated from ready-to-eat food products in the Kyrgyz Republic between 2020 and 2023. The findings indicate a predominance of antibiotic-resistant strains in dairy and meat products as well as in water. The isolates of each species were found to belong to 3 sequence types: S. aureus (ST5, ST15, ST45); E. faecalis (ST21, ST133, ST179). According to the obtained data, all S. aureus isolates carrying the β-lactam resistance gene blaZ were phenotypically resistant to this class of antibiotics. Despite phenotypic resistance to vancomycin, linezolid, and daptomycin observed in 25% of S. aureus isolates, no genetic markers of resistance to these reserve antibiotics were identified. E. faecalis isolates carrying the tetM gene were phenotypically resistant to tetracycline, with the overall proportion of tetracycline-resistant strains reaching 83.3%. A high proportion of E. faecalis carrying the macrolide resistance gene lsaA, accounting for 31.7%, corresponds to the data on the expected phenotypic resistance of this microorganism. CONCLUSION: The studies conducted in the Kyrgyz Republic confirm the need for monitoring the spread of antimicrobial resistance in pathogens through the food chain.
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Koroleva et al. (2025) studied this question.
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