Multidrug-Resistant Species and Their Mobile Genetic Elements from Poultry Farm Environments in Malaysia.

The prevalence and persistent outbreaks of multidrug-resistant (MDR) in low-income countries have received growing attention among the public and scientific community. Notably, the excessive use of antibiotics in chicken feed for the purpose of treatment or as prophylaxis in the poultry industry have led to a rising rate of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the presence of antimicrobial-resistant species and its mobile genetic elements from soil and effluent samples of 33 randomly selected poultry farms in Selangor, Malaysia. species were isolated on selective media (CHROMagar™ ). VITEK 2 system was used to identify the isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility. Subsequently, eight isolates were subjected to the whole genome sequencing (WGS). Based on the results, spp. was detected in 38.1% (24/63) of samples, with the highest resistance to ampicillin (62.5%), followed by ampicillin/sulbactam (50.0%) and ciprofloxacin (45.8%). Meanwhile, the identified serovars were subspecies serovar Weltevreden ( Weltevreden), . Jedburgh, and Brancaster. The most prevalent resistance genes detected include , , , and (A). The 1 plasmid, with encoded resistance genes, was also detected in four isolates. Furthermore, mutations in the quinolone resistant-determining regions (QRDR) were discovered, specifically in the , and genes. In short, surveillance such as continuous monitoring of antimicrobial resistance and emerging trends in resistance patterns through farm environmental samples could provide information to formulate public health interventions for effective infection prevention and disease control.