Maintaining the effectiveness of antimicrobials for treatment of bacterial infections in swine by decreasing the prevalence and spread of antimicrobial resistance genes.

Our long-term goal is to help maintain the effectiveness of currently available antimicrobial agents for disease treatment in livestock by reducing the prevalence and spread of AMR genes among livestock animals and between livestock animals and humans. To address this long-term goal, we propose the following objectives:Objective 1: Develop and optimize low-cost molecular tests to rapidly detect bacterial pathogens including hemolytic E. coli and Streptococcus suis, along with commensal indicator bacteria including generic E. coli, Enterococcus, and Citrobacter in samples from pig tissues, pig production and processing environments, and retail pork products.Objective 2: Develop Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization - Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) based tests to rapidly determine the phenotypic antimicrobial resistance characteristics of swine bacterial pathogens and indicator bacteria. Objective 3: Determine the resistome of ready-to-eat (RTE) meats from small processing plants in North Dakota and South Dakota by evaluating the AMR characteristics of indicator bacteria (generic E. coli, Enterococcus, and Citrobacter) isolated from meat samples. The resistome for these RTE meats will be determined using the methods developed in this proposal along with whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to further evaluate strains that are resistant to clinically important veterinary antibiotics including cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and macrolides.Objective 4: Evaluate the effectiveness of various types of interventions (e.g. collateral sensitivity, antibiotic stewardship programs, or physical hurdles in the pork processing environment) to decrease the prevalence and spread of AMR genes using indicator bacteria to determine the effects that interventions have on the resistome of various ecological niches in the pork production and processing chain.