Faecal shedding of CTX-M-producing Escherichia coli in horses receiving broad-spectrum antimicrobial prophylaxis after hospital admission.

The objective of this longitudinal study was to investigate the occurrence and genetic background of faecal Escherichia coli resistant to cefotaxime (CTX) in horses receiving broad-spectrum antimicrobial prophylaxis after admission to a veterinary teaching hospital. The ten horses enrolled in the study were treated with cefquinome either alone (n=4) or in combination with metronidazole (n=3) or other antimicrobial agents (n=3). CTX-resistant coliforms in faeces collected before, during and after treatment were quantified on selective MacConkey agar supplemented with CTX, and a colony isolated randomly from each positive sample was characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and by PCR detection and sequencing of bla(TEM), bla(SHV), bla(CTX-M) and bla(CMY).