Prevalence of extended-spectrum β -lactamase-producing Enterobacterales in retail sheep meat from Zagazig city, Egypt

Background The goal of this study was to investigate the prevalence of extended-spectrum β -lactamase production in Enterobacterales isolated from retail sheep meat in Zagazig, Egypt. Methods One hundred random samples of sheep meat were collected from different retail butcher shops ( n = 5) in the city of Zagazig, Egypt. Bacterial isolates were identified by MALDI-TOF MS and screened for antibiotic susceptibility by disk diffusion; further genotypic characterization of β -lactamase-encoding genes was performed with Real-Time PCR. E. coli strains were phylotyped with the Clermont triplex PCR method. Results Of the total of 101 bacterial isolates recovered from retail sheep meat samples, 93 were E. coli , six were Enterobacter cloacae and two were Proteus mirabilis . As many as 17% of these 100 samples showed ESBL phenotypes, all were E. coli . The bla CTX-M genes were detected in seven isolates (six were bla CTX-M-15 and one was bla CTX-M-14 ), three isolates harboured bla TEM (all were bla TEM-one ), and two carried genes of the bla SHV family (both were bla SHV-12 ). Eight E. coli isolates expressed ESBL phenotype but no bla TEM , bla SHV or bla CTX-M genes were detected by PCR. ESBL- positive E. coli isolates were nearly equally distributed over the commensal groups A/B1 and the virulent group D. Conclusion Nearly one in five sheep meat samples was contaminated with ESBL- E. coli. This further corroborates the potential role played by contaminated meat in the increasing resistance rates that have been reported worldwide.