Active surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in companion animals: A pilot study in a Spanish Veterinary Teaching Hospital

Abbreviations: AMR, antimicrobial resistance; AMRO, antimicrobial-resistant organisms; AST, antimicrobial susceptibility testing; CDT, combination disc test; CRGNB, carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria; ESBL-E, extended spectrum beta-lactamases producing Enterobacterales; ESCMID, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; EUCAST, European Committee of Antimicrobial Suceptibility Testing; HCAI, healthcare-associated infections; MALDI-TOF, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight; MRS, methicillin-resistant Staphylococci; MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; MRSP, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius; 3GCR-GNB, 3rd generation cephalosporins-resistant gram-negative bacteria; VTH, veterinary teaching hospital. Authorship contribution statement: Marta Perez Sancho: Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Project administration, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation. Miriam Portero Fuentes: Visualization, Resources, investigation. Jose Luis Blanco: Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Supervision, Resources, Project administration, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Marta Eulalia Garcia: Writing – review & editing, Supervision, Resources, Project administration, Conceptualization. Laura Leal Velez De Mendizabal: ´ Writing – review & editing, Methodology, Investigation. Sergio Quevedo Caraballo: Investigation. Silvia Piva: Writing – review & editing, Validation, Supervision, Resources, Funding acquisition. Raffaele Scarpellini: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Conceptualization. Erika Esposito: Data curation, Conceptualization. Elisabetta Mondo: Visualization. Silvia Penelo: Resources, Investigation.The role of small animal veterinary hospitals in the onset and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AMROs) is still not clear, and the implementation of an internal surveillance systems is a cost-effective tool to better understand their impact. The aim of this study was to describe a pilot program of active surveillance in a Spanish Veterinary Teaching Hospital, developed to estimate the detection frequency of AMROs in the commensal flora of patients and in the environment. Surveillance was focused on Methicillin-resistant Staphylococci (MRS), third generation cephalosporins resistant gram-negative bacteria (3GCR-GNB), and carbapenems-resistant gram-negative bacteria (CR-GNB). Oral and perirectal swabs were collected in the same dogs and cats hospitalized > 48 h, at their admission and before their discharge. Out of 50 patients sampled, 24% (12/50) were carriers at admission of at least one of the three investigated AMROs. Twenty-eight percent of patients (14/50) acquired at least one AMRO during the hospital stay. MRS detection frequency at admission was 12% (6/50), while acquisition was 6% (3/50). 3GCR-GNB detection frequency was 14% at admission (7/50) and acquisition 22% (11/50), while CR-GNB detection frequency was 2% at admission (1/50) and acquisition 2% (1/50). Environmental surveillance (98 samples) showed a total detection frequency of 22.4% for MRS (22/98), 2% for 3GCR-GNB and CR-GNB (2/98). Clinical staff’ shoe soles showed high detection frequency for MRS (50%). 3GCR Escherichia coli was the most isolated species in patients (n = 17). The results show how active surveillance can be used as a tool to assess the impact of AMROs in veterinary hospitals to subsequently build up tailored control plans based on specific issues.Depto. de Sanidad AnimalFac. de VeterinariaTRUEpu