LAUSR

Abstract Background: Chickens are considered potential reservoirs for human extraintestinal infections with pathogenic Escherichia coli. However, information about genetic relatedness between E. coli from healthy chickens and human patients is still limited. Methods and Results: In this study, clinical samples from patients with extraintestinal infections and healthy broiler chickens were collected from geographically related locations in Egypt during the 2nd half of 2015. The recovered isolates were tested for susceptibility against β-lactam antimicrobials and screened for the presence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and virulence genes; clonal and phylotypes were also determined. Forty-eight percent (48/100) and 31.3% (50/160) of human and chicken samples were positive for E. coli, respectively. Although only 4% (2/50) of the chicken isolates were resistant to the tested β-lactams, over 58% of human E. coli isolates (28/48) exhibited resistance to cefotaxime. For β-lactamases, 52.1%, 33.3%, 20...