Comparison of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli Isolates from Drinking Well Water and Pit Latrine Wastewater in a Rural Area of China

Abstract EN

The present study was conducted to gain insights into the occurrence and characteristics of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase- (ESBL-) producing Escherichia coli (E.

coli) from drinking well water in the rural area of Laiwu, China, and to explore the role of the nearby pit latrine as a contamination source.

ESBL-producing E.

coli from wells were compared with isolates from pit latrines in the vicinity.

The results showed that ESBL-producing E.

coli isolates, with the same antibiotic resistance profiles, ESBL genes, phylogenetic group, plasmid replicon types, and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) fingerprints, were isolated from well water and the nearby pit latrine in the same courtyard.

Therefore, ESBL-producing E.

coli in the pit latrine may be a likely contributor to the presence of ESBL-producing E.

coli in rural well water.