Antimicrobial resistance genes of <i>Escherichia coli</i>, a bacterium of “One Health” importance in South Africa: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

<abstract> <p>This is a systematic review and meta-analysis that evaluated the prevalence of <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in animals, humans, and the environment in South Africa. This study followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to search and use literature published between 1 January 2000 to 12 December 2021, on the prevalence of South African <italic>E. coli</italic> isolates' ARGs. Articles were downloaded from African Journals Online, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and Google Scholar search engines. A random effects meta-analysis was used to estimate the antibiotic-resistant genes of <italic>E. coli</italic> in animals, humans, and the environment. Out of 10764 published articles, only 23 studies met the inclusion criteria. The obtained results indicated that the pooled prevalence estimates (PPE) of <italic>E</italic>. <italic>coli</italic> ARGs was 36.3%, 34.4%, 32.9%, and 28.8% for <italic>bla_TEM-M-1</italic>, <italic>amp</italic>C, <italic>tet</italic>A, and <italic>bla</italic>_TEM, respectively. Eight ARGs (<italic>bla_CTX-M</italic>, <italic>bla_CTX-M-1</italic>, <italic>bla_TEM</italic>, <italic>tet</italic>A, <italic>tet</italic>B, <italic>sul</italic>1, <italic>sul</italic>II, and <italic>aad</italic>A) were detected in humans, animals and the environmental samples. Human <italic>E. coli</italic> isolate samples harboured 38% of the ARGs. Analyzed data from this study highlights the occurrence of ARGs in <italic>E. coli</italic> isolates from animals, humans, and environmental samples in South Africa. Therefore, there is a necessity to develop a comprehensive “One Health” strategy to assess antibiotics use in order to understand the causes and dynamics of antibiotic resistance development, as such information will enable the formulation of intervention strategies to stop the spread of ARGs in the future.</p> </abstract>