Assessing Transmission of Antimicrobial-Resistant Escherichia coli in Wild Giraffe Contact Networks.

ABSTRACT: There is growing evidence that anthropogenic sources of antibiotics and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria can spill over into natural ecosystems, raising questions about the role wild animals play in the emergence, maintenance, and dispersal of antibiotic resistance genes. In particular, we lack an understanding of how resistance genes circulate within wild animal populations, including whether specific host characteristics, such as social associations, promote interhost transmission of these genes. In this study, we used social network analysis to explore the forces shaping population-level patterns of resistant Escherichia coli in wild giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) and assess the relative importance of social contact for the dissemination of resistant E. coli betwe

SUBMITTER: Miller EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6293098 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature