Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance of Escherichia coli in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) in the city of Cajamarca, Peru – 2022

Abstract

From April 2022 to June 2023 in Cajamarca, Peru, 105 samples of apparently healthy guinea pig feces were collected, obtaining informed consent from the owners and informing them that the sampling is non-invasive. The objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of bacterial resistance in Escherichia coli in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) in the city of Cajamarca, in the face of microbial agents. The sampling was carried out randomly. The samples were collected from the rectum of the studied guinea pigs using sterile swabs, in each of the 15 sectors of this city, and transported in peptone broth and styrofoam boxes to the Veterinary Microbiology Laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences at the Universidad Nacional de Cajamarca. Initial cultivation was performed on MacConkey Agar, confirming the isolation of E. coli through IMViC. The antimicrobial resistance of E. coli was determined by disk diffusion, and the prevalence of resistance was determined considering international levels. The obtained values do not align with what was hypothesized, which considered resistance levels from Moderate (>10% to 20%), as the results were: Extra high (>70%) for Neomycin (100.0%); Low (>1 to 10%) for Chloramphenicol (7.6%) and Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim (1.9%); Very low (0.1 to 1%) for Tetracycline (1.0%) and Enrofloxacin (1.0%). Also, in our study area, 90.5% of isolates were resistant to at least one antibacterial; however, since only two cases of E. coli resistant to 3 of the 5 tested antibacterials were found, we can conclude that this represents an advantage for this domestic species, as the high sensitivity to Chloramphenicol, Sulfamethoxazole-Trimethoprim, Tetracycline, and Enrofloxacin makes them suitable for therapeutic use in this animal species.