Detection and drug resistance profile of Escherichia coli from subclinical mastitis cows and water supply in dairy farms in Saraburi Province, Thailand

Subclinical mastitis is a persistent problem in dairy farms worldwide. Environmental Escherichia coli is the bacterium predominantly responsible for this condition. In Thailand, subclinical mastitis in dairy cows is usually treated with various antibiotics, which could lead to antibiotic resistance in bacteria. E. coli is also a reservoir of many antibiotic resistance genes, which can be conveyed to other bacteria. In this study, the presence of E. coli in milk and water samples was reported, among which enteropathogenic E. coli was predominant, followed by enteroaggregative E. coli and enterohemorrhagic E. coli, which was found only in milk samples. Twenty-one patterns of antibiotic resistance were identified in this study. Ampicillin- and carbenicillin-resistant E. coli was the most common among the bacterial isolates from water samples. Meanwhile, resistance to ampicillin, carbenicillin, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim was the pattern found most commonly in the E. coli from milk samples. Notably, only the E. coli from water samples possessed ESBL phenotype and carried antibiotic resistance genes, bla(TEM) and bla(CMY-2). This indicates that pathogenic E. coli in dairy farms is also exposed to antibiotics and could potentially transfer these genes to other pathogenic bacteria under certain conditions.