Program To Monitor Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacteria Isolated from Animals and Food in Quebec

The Direction générale de l'alimentation of the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation (MAPAQ) is conducting an active and a passive surveillance program to monitor bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents (ATMs) in animals and food in connection with public health. The passive surveillance of animals has been underway since 1993 through MAPAQ's animal pathology laboratory and the Université de Montréal's faculty of veterinary medicine. The study will soon include data provided by MAPAQ's Laboratoire d'expertises et d'analyses alimentaires on bacterial isolates from food. The results concerning bacterial resistance to certain ATMs significant to public health are presented for Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus spp in avian, bovine and porcine species from 1993 to 1998. They suggest increased resistance of the coagulase-positive staphylococci involved in bovine mastitis to oxacillin, of E. coli from porcine samples to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and of E. coli from avian samples to ampicillin and enrofloxacin. The salmonellae data from bovine and porcine samples suggest increased resistance to ampicillin. This phenomenon in bovine species may be associated with the presence of 38% of isolates confirmed to be S. Typhimurium lysotype 104 in 1998. No significant increase in resistance to enrofloxacin was observed for E. coli from porcine and bovine samples and for the salmonellae from the three animal species. Active surveillance targeting animal-to-human transmittable bacteria, as well as of indicators, is being developed. The resources required for this activity will be determined in the year 2000.