Antimicrobial resistance and virulent nature of Escherichia coli from an abattoir and retail market in Ghana

This study investigated virulence - associated resistance genes and phylogenetic analysis of Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolated from various meat types in Ghana. The prevalence of virulence genes detected among E. coli isolates were 71.4%, 24.5%, 20.4%, 18.4%, and 4.1% for ibeA, iutA, KpsMTII, papGIII, and sfa, respectively. The E. coli strains belonged to four major phylogenetic groups; group A (14.3%), group C (34.7%), group D (30.8%), and group F (6.1%). E. coli resistance to relevant antibiotics ranged between 12.5% and 85.7%. The prevalent resistance gene was tet A (16.3%), tet B (4.08%), and floR (4.08%). One E. coli isolate from local chicken harboured blaCTX-M and another from local guinea fowl meat carried blaTEM. Virulence and resistance genes occurred (P