Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes colibacillosis, which is an economically important disease in the poultry industry worldwide. The present study investigated O-serogroups, phylogenetic groups, antimicrobial resistance, and the existence of virulence-associated genes (VAGs) and antimicrobial resistance genes in 125 APEC isolates between 2018 and 2019 in Korea. The phylogenetic group B2 isolates were confirmed for human-related sequence types (STs) through multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). O-serogroups O2 (12.5%) and O78 (10.3%) and phylogenetic group B1 (36.5%) and A (34.5%) were predominant in chicken and duck isolates, respectively. Out of 14 VAGs, iucD, iroN, hlyF, and iss were found significantly more in chicken isolates than duck isolates (p < 0.05). The resistance to ampicillin, ceftiofur, ceftriaxone, and gentamicin was higher in chicken isolates than duck isolates (p < 0.05). The multidrug resistance (MDR) rates of chicken and duck isolates were 77.1% and 65.5%, respectively. One isolate resistant to colistin (MIC 16 μg/mL) carried mcr-1. The B2-ST95 APEC isolates possessed more than 9 VAGs, and most of them were MDR (82.4%). This report is the first to compare the characteristics of APEC isolates from chickens and ducks in Korea and to demonstrate that B2-ST95 isolates circulating in Korea have zoonotic potential and pose a public health risk.

Thirty-nine human isolates of Campylobacter jejuni obtained from a national university hospital during 2007–2010 and 38 chicken isolates of C. jejuni were collected from poultry farms during 2009–2010 in South Korea were used in this study. Campylobacter genomic species and virulence-associated genes were identified by PCR. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were performed to compare their genetic relationships. All isolates were highly resistant to ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, and tetracycline. Of all isolates tested, over 94% contained seven virulence associated genes (flaA, cadF, racR, dnaJ, cdtA, cdtB, and cdtC). All isolates were classified into 39 types by PFGE clustering with 90% similarity. Some chicken isolates were incorporated into some PFGE types of human isolates. MLST analysis for the 39 human isolates and 38 chicken isolates resulted in 14 and 23 sequence types (STs), respectively, of which 10 STs were new. STs overlapped in both chicken and human isolates included ST-21, ST-48, ST-50, ST-51, and ST-354, of which ST-21 was the predominant ST in both human and chicken isolates. Through combined analysis of PFGE types and STs, three chicken isolates were clonally related to the three human isolates associated with food poisoning (VII-ST-48, XXII-ST-354, and XXVIII-ST-51). They were derived from geographically same or distinct districts. Remarkably, clonal spread of food poisoning pathogens between animals and humans was confirmed by population genetic analysis. Consequently, contamination of campylobacters with quinolone resistance and potential virulence genes in poultry production and consumption may increase the risk of infections in humans.

Vertical integration of the broiler industry allows producers to combine different biosecurity and sanitation practices, housing technologies, and feeding regimens to improve food safety. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and distribution of Salmonella, to determine the source of Salmonella contaminants, and to reveal the relationships between isolates at each step in the vertically integrated broiler production system in two representative integrated broiler companies in Korea. A total of 2148 samples were collected from 2 broiler breeder hatcheries, 14 broiler breeder farms, 3 broiler hatcheries, 16 broiler farms, 8 broiler transporting trucks and 6 slaughterhouses belonging to representative integrated broiler companies, and 205 (9.5%) of these samples were positive for Salmonella. The Salmonella prevalence in broiler hatcheries (34.0%) and broiler transporting trucks (62.5%) was higher (P < 0.05) whereas that in the broiler breeder hatchery (0.8%) was lower (P < 0.05), than the overall prevalence. Nine and 13 different Salmonella serotypes were isolated from integrated companies A and B, and the predominant serotypes were S. Virchow (39.7%) and S. Hadar (59.2%), respectively. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis patterns of isolates from the two operations showed significant genetic relatedness within a single system. In a comparison of the two operations that participated in this study, the prevalence of Salmonella differed significantly between the broiler breeder hatchery, and broiler hatcheries and broiler farms.

A total of 2,423 nonduplicate isolates of Escherichia coli recovered from wild birds (n=793) and chickens (n=1,630) in South Korea were investigated for plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes. Altogether, 56 isolates with PMQR genes were identified, including 25 (3.2%) from wild birds and 31 (1.9%) from chickens, which were further characterized using molecular methods. Among them, qnrS, aac(6′)-Ib-cr, qnrB, and qepA genes were detected in 47 (1.9%), 6 (0.24%), 2 (0.08%), and 1 (0.04%) isolates, respectively. The most prevalent gene, qnrS, was identified in 21 (0.9%) and 26 (1.1%) isolates from wild birds and chickens, respectively. The qnrB gene was identified in two chicken isolates, which included qnrB19 and a novel qnrB44 gene. Plasmid isolation and Southern hybridization revealed that qnrS1 was located on a large (>200 kbp) plasmid. The spread of the PMQR genes was attributed to a combination of horizontal dissemination and clonal expansion. The horizontal dissemination of PMQR genes was mostly mediated by IncK plasmids. Molecular typing demonstrated that the majority of the PMQR-positive isolates were genetically diverse. Only one chicken isolate belonged to ST131, which harbored an additional CMY-2 gene. Our findings suggest that the wild birds could serve as reservoirs of PMQR genes and spread them over long distances through migration. To our knowledge, this is the first report of PMQR genes in Korean wild birds. This study also reports qnrS2, qnrB19, qnrB44, and qepA genes for the first time in animal E. coli isolates from South Korea.

Raw chicken products are major causes of human foodborne salmonellosis worldwide. In particular, there is a significant risk of human exposure to Sal