Characterizing multi-drug resistant coliforms carried by house flies collected from Kansas dairy and beef cattle operations

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

3:15 PM – 3:30 PM PT

Location: Vancouver Convention Centre, Meeting Room 215/216

Presenting Author(s)

Victoria Pickens

Graduate Research Assistant
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas

Co-author(s)

Victoria Pickens

Graduate Research Assistant
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas
EB

Edward Bird

Graduate Research Assistant
Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas
TP

Tanya Purvis

USDA-ARS
Manhattan, Kansas
CO

Cassandra Olds

Kansas State University
Manhattan, Kansas

Co-Author(s)

Dana Nayduch

Research Leader
USDA-ARS
Manhattan, Kansas

House flies (Musca domestica L.) frequently interact with substrates rich in microbes, acquiring and transmitting pathogenic and antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria across their environmental niche. Confined beef and dairy cattle operations both generate copious amounts of microbe-rich substrates for house flies to thrive in, and as a result house fly transmitted AMR bacteria pose a significant threat to animal, worker, and consumer health. Considering the different facility management practices used in these cattle operations, in particular antibiotic usage, adult house flies were collected from Kansas beef and dairy farms and coliforms were cultured and tested for resistance to five antibiotics of veterinary importance: tetracycline, florfenicol, enrofloxacin, ampicillin, and ceftiofur. Multi-drug resistant (MDR) coliforms were selected for whole genome sequencing in order to identify and characterize coliform species and to uncover the nature of AMR elements and virulence factors. The goal was to use this information to inform future risk assessment of factors associated with AMR prevalence at cattle farming operations, and to further understand the role house flies play in the prevalence of AMR and MDR coliforms within these environments.