The result of isolation and identification of
Escherichia coli showed that 97 (71.85%) were positive
E. coli from 135 sampeles of rectum swabs based on morphological culture, Gram staining and biochemical tests (Table 2).
E. coli produce metallic green bacterial colonies on EMBA media (Fig 1). Gram staining revealed the presence of Gram negative short rods. The IMViC test revealed bacterial strains to be positive for indole, MR and motility, but negative for indole and citrate utilization tests, motile MR positive thus confirming isolates to be
E.coli by biochemical tests.
Based on the outcomes of the antibiotic resistance test, the antibiogram revealed that, out of the 97
E. coli isolates, 20 (20.62%) were resistant to one class of antibiotics and 24 (24.74%) resistant to two classes. Twelve isolates (12.37%) that exhibited resistance to three or four different antibiotic classes were identified as MDR (Table 3 and Fig 2). The dominant antibiotic resistance pattern was CIP - AML - SXT - AZM - TE with 6 isolates (Table 4). Following the detection of the blaTEM gene, it was determined that 12
E. coli isolates were multidrug resistant based on the findings of the sensitivity test. Two
E. coli isolates tested positive for blaTEM based on the results of the electrophoresis. The two isolates are with sample codes 2.31 and 2.70 (Fig 3).
Research into antibiotic resistance in wild animals has recently begun to be carried out because the uncontrolled movement of these wild animals can have serious impacts on public health. AMR research in wild animals, such as bats, can provide an overview of the exposure received by wild animals and the potential for spread of ESBL from wildlife to the environment. Bats have the ability to fly an average distance of 26.14 km (0.33-97.57 m)
(Randhawa et al., 2020). The small amount of research on wild animals can make the picture of the spread of ESBL in the environment still not very clear, there are only a few studies on MDR from bats in Indonesia, including research conducted by
Masrukhin et al., (2021) on bat isolates in Gunung Halimun Salak National Park.
Multidrug resistance to antibiotics in Gram-negative bacteria resulting from treatment or exposure to antibiotics in the environment can be found in
E. coli,
Enterobacter spp.,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
Klebsiella pneumoniae and
Acinebacter baumannii (Ramatla et al., 2024; Riwu et al., 2022). The macrolide antibiotic Azithromycin is an antibiotic that often appeared as a cause of resistance in this study. Beta-lactam and macrolide antibiotics are antibiotics that are often used to treat bacterial respiratory tract infections in humans (
Ríos et al., 2024). In Japan, from 82 nasal swab samples from human patients, it was found that 23
Klebsiella pneumonia bacteria and
E. coli had the ESBL gene, 15
E. coli isolates from 44 patients were known to produce ESBL, where the proportion of administration using carbapenem, cephem and macrolide antibiotics was very significant
(Matsumoto et al., 2023). From food product etawa milk in Indonesia found that 100% of samples was DDST test were found blaTEM gene
(Tyasningsih et al., 2022). mefB is an ARGs of
E. coli in poultry in kwara state, north central nigeria which mutates to cause resistance to macrolide antibiotics (erythromycin, azithromycin and tylosin)
(Al-Mustapha et al., 2023). The antibiotic azithromycin is a macrolide antibiotic which is widely used for therapy in humans and livestock. The macrolide antibiotic functions to inhibit bacterial proteins between gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. This antibiotic is used for the treatment of respiratory and digestive, genital and skin infections
(Monahan et al., 2023).
Of the 97
E. coli isolates, 25 samples were found to be resistant to the antibiotic amoxicillin. Amoxicillin is a beta-lactam antibiotic that is used to treat pathogenic bacteria by inhibiting cell wall synthesis. Amoxicillin is often used for treatment because it is more easily absorbed than other antibiotics
(Zhang et al., 2023). The high incidence of AMR on cattle farms can occur in cows that have not yet been weaned, because the immune system is not yet fully formed and antibodies from colostrum have begun to decline so the risk of infection becomes very high
(Merle et al., 2023). Research conducted by
Ningtyas et al., (2024) on water sources in chicken farms in West Lombok showed that the isolated
E. coli bacteria were resistant to penicillin (100%) and tetracycline (75%) antibiotics, the researchers believe that the bacteria that have developed resistance come from chickens on the farm. The similarity of antibiotic resistance of
E. coli bacteria in humans, animals and the environment show that the closeness between humans, animals and the environment makes the circulation of antibiotic resistance unavoidable
(Barker et al., 2023).
All samples in this study showed susceptibility to the antibiotics cefotaxime (100%) and gentamicin (98.97%). The antibiotic gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic which has recently been used to treat Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial infections in the field of veterinary medicine. Amoxicillin and cefotaxime are indicators of resistance to the beta-lactam class of antibiotics which can carry the ESBL gene
(Paramitadevi et al., 2024). In contrast to the results of research on isolates from bats in Peru, more than 60% of the isolates were resistant to second and third generation penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics
(Benavides et al., 2022). The discovery of this pattern of antibiotic resistance is important for antibiotic management and the need for health service providers to choose the antibiotics that will be used for therapy as an effort to maximize treatment
(Oboodi et al., 2024; Farizqi et al., 2023).
The discovery of
E. coli bacteria in samples of bats that are MDR in this study and were detected to have the blaTEM gene is very risky for public health because bats are wild animals that can live anywhere and defecate any where so the risk of bat feces contamination of the environment is very large. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) can be caused by the resistance of
E. coli bacteria to beta-lactam antibiotics or bacterial plasmids that are resistant to aminoglycoside antibiotics, trimethoprim, quinolones, sulphonamides, chloramphenicol and tetracycline
(Haddadin et al., 2023). The Temoneria (TEM) and sulfhydryl variable (SHV) genes were genes that were very frequently found in patients in hospitals from 1980-1990, then cefotaxime (CTX-M) became dominant due to the widespread use of third-generation cephalosporins
(Nahar et al., 2023). Of the 12 test samples that experienced multidrug resistance, two samples were found to be positive for the blaTEM gene. In line with research on bats in Nigeria, the blaTEM and multi-DHA genes were the predominant genes detected in resistant
E. coli bacteria
(Modupe et al., 2022).
In Indonesia, the blaTEM gene is the dominant gene (70%) in ESBL
E. coli in broiler chickens
(Effendi et al., 2021b), but it is different in layer chickens where blaCTX is the dominant gene that appears as the cause of ESBL followed by blaTEM and blaSHV
(Wibisono et al., 2020). The blaTEM gene confers resistance to early cephalosporin antibiotics and penicillins by excessively hydrolyzing the β-lactam ring and causing resistance to carbapenems and cephamycin
(Ibrahim et al., 2023). The blaTEM gene (83.8%) is the gene that often appears as the cause of ESBL in poultry in North Central Nigeria, samples show MDR to the antibiotics sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, tetracycline and ampicillin
(Al-Mustapha et al., 2023). The blaTEM-1B gene was 65% (n=13) the gene that appeared as the gene causing resistance to
E. coli isolates from dogs in San Francisco and 70% (n=25) in dog owners, followed by blaTEM104 in one person without appearing in dogs lookout
(Walas et al., 2024).
The blaTEM gene can be found on DNA plasmids, the presence of the gene on the plasmid can facilitate gene transfer between different bacteria, other beta-lactamase genes are derivatives of blaTEM
(Sah et al., 2024). Data on antibiotic resistance and ESBL genes detected in this study can be used as reference data as literature for doctors and veterinarians as an illustration of AMR and ESBL in wild animals which can contaminate the human environment.