Antibiotic Resistance of Bacteria in Two Marine Mammal Species, Harbor Seals and Harbor Porpoises, Living in an Urban Marine Ecosystem, the Salish Sea, Washington State, USA

Oceans

JessicaL. Huggins¹  DyannaM. Lambourn²  StephanieA. Norman³  Sandra Dubpernell⁴  Susan Berta⁴  Betsy Carlson⁵  Mandi Johnson⁵  JosephK. Gaydos⁶  Rachel Mayer⁷  JenniferK. Olson⁸  Alyssa Scott⁸  Alysha Evans⁹  Victoria Souze⁹  Cathy King^1,10 

[1] Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, WA 98501, USA;Marine Mammal Investigations, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Lakewood, WA 98498, USA;Marine-Med: Marine Research, Epidemiology, and Veterinary Medicine, Bothell, WA 98021, USA;Orca Network/Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Freeland, WA 98249, USA;Port Townsend Marine Science Center, Port Townsend, WA 98368, USA;SeaDoc Society, UC Davis Wildlife Health Center—Orcas Island Office, Eastsound, WA 98245, USA;Sno-King Marine Mammal Response, Seattle, WA 98117, USA;The Whale Museum, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA;Whatcom County Marine Mammal Stranding Network, Lummi Island, WA 98262, USA;World Vets, Gig Harbor, WA 98332, USA;

关键词: antibiotic resistance;    antimicrobial;    multi-drug resistance;    MAR index;    harbor porpoise;    harbor seal;   

DOI  :  10.3390/oceans2010006

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The pervasive use of antibiotics in human medicine, veterinary medicine, and agriculture can result in a significant increase in the spread and environmental persistence of antibiotic resistance in marine ecosystems. This study describes the presence and distribution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in Salish Sea harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) and harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and evaluates species, age class, and geographic differences in resistance patterns. Isolates from 95 dead-stranded animals (74 seals/21 porpoises) were tested for resistance to a suite of 15 antibiotics. Of the 95 sampled, 85 (89%) (67 seals/18 porpoises) successfully yielded 144 isolates, with 37% resistant to at least one antibiotic and 26% multi-drug resistant (24% and 39% of seal and porpoise isolates, respectively). Overall, and by study region, porpoises were significantly more likely to harbor resistant organisms compared to seals. Significant differences between age classes were noted for the antibiotics amoxicillin, cephalexin, and cefovecin. Overall isolate resistance was significantly greater in porpoises than seals for several individual antibiotics. Multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indices greater than 0.2 were observed in 55% of multi-drug resistant isolates, suggesting seal and porpoise exposure to anthropogenic pollution. The relatively high and disparate prevalence of antibiotic resistance in these common, but ecologically dissimilar, marine mammals reflects a potentially large environmental pool of antibiotic resistant organisms in the Salish Sea or inherently different resistance gene patterns between the two species.

【 授权许可】

Unknown