Characterization of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase and carbapenemase genes in bacteria from environment in Burkina Faso

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to characterize extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase genes in bacteria from the environment in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.

METHODOLOGY

This study was conducted from January 18 to December 31, 2019. Environmental samples were collected from the effluents of Souro Sanou University Hospital Center and the wastewater treatment plant at Bobo-Dioulasso. MacConkey agar media supplemented with 4 µg/mL cefotaxime was used for bacterial growth, and identification of bacteria was performed using API 20E system (BioMerieux SA, Lyon, France). Antibiotic susceptibility testing, synergy test, carbapenem inactivation method and molecular characterization were performed.

RESULTS

A total of 180 bacterial isolates were identified from the different sites with a predominance of Klebsiella oxytoca and Klebsiella pneumoniae (27.5%). All 180 bacterial isolates were ESBL producers and 18 (10.0%) of them produced carbapenemases. Out of the 180 bacterial isolates, DNAs of 98.9% (178/180) bacterial isolates were extracted and tested through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for characterization of resistant genes. The study showed that 89.8% (160/178) carried the bla-CTX-M genes including 54.4 (87/160) from hospital effluents and 45.6 (73/160) from the wastewater treatment plant. Regarding the carriage of carbapenemase genes, 7.9 (14/178) blaNDM-1 was found in all the sites including 71.4% (10/14) from hospital effluents and 28.6 (4/14) from the wastewater treatment plant. blaOXA-48-like was only found in bacteria from hospital effluents and represented 2.2% (4/178).

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the need to build hospital effluent treatment plants to reduce the load of resistant bacteria before discharging the effluents into the urban wastewater system.