High Prevalence of Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase CTX-M-Producing Escherichia coli in Small-Scale Poultry Farming in Rural Ecuador

Small-scale farming may have large impacts on the selection and spread of antimicrobial resistance to humans. We conducted an observational study to evaluate antibiotic-resistant Escherichia coli populations from poultry and humans in rural northwestern Esmeraldas, Ecuador. Our study site is a remote region with historically low resistance levels of third-generation antibiotics such cefotaxime (CTX), a clinically relevant antibiotic, in both poultry and humans. Our study revealed 1) high CTX resistance (66.1%) in farmed broiler chickens, 2) an increase in CTX resistance over time in backyard chicken not fed antibiotics (2.3-17.9%), and 3) identical bla(CTX-M) sequences from human and chicken bacteria, suggesting a spillover event. These findings provide evidence that small-scale meat production operations have direct impacts on the spread and selection of clinically important antibiotics among underdeveloped settings.