Antimicrobial-resistance in Escherichia coli isolatedfrom wild pheasants (Phasianus colchicus).

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance among 180 Escherichia coli strains isolated from 200 wild pheasants caught in rural areas of the Czech Republic (Eastern Moravia) and Slovakia (Western Region). The isolates were also classified into phylogenetic groups by the multiplex PCR method. Our findings demonstrated that 130 strains were resistant to ampicillin (72%), 160 strains to cephalothin (89%), and 40 strains to tetracycline (22%). Ten strains were found to be resistant to chloramphenicol and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (5.6%). In turn, all strains were sensitive to cefoperazone/sulbactam, ciprofloxacin, colistin, gentamicin, and piperacillin/tazobactam. Ten of the 180 isolates (5.6%) exhibited multi-resistant phenotypes, including resistances against beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, sulphonamides, and chloramphenicol. As far as we know, this is the first report describing antimicrobial resistance in E. coli from pheasants.