Abstract

Background:
Worldwide, zoonotic diseases represent serious risks to public health, underscoring the necessity of efficient surveillance techniques. The One Health concept has gained popularity as a comprehensive paradigm for tackling surveillance of zoonotic diseases because it acknowledges the correlation of pathogen, animal, human, and surrounding environment. Public health is now concerned about antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) that would cause severe impurities in animals and man, leading to morbidity and mortality.

Aim:
This study looked at the collaborative efforts between humans and animal (cattle and horses) health sectors, as well as other pertinent risk factors in implementing One Health surveillance strategy against klebsiellosis in one Egyptian district. In addition, this study analyzed some of K. pneumoniae antimicrobial resistance genes to improve future medical treatment strategies against zoonotic klebsiellosis.

Methods:
K. pneumoniae was isolated from 50 cattle raw milk samples, 50 horse nasal swabs, and 50 human sputum samples, using MacConkey's agar and XLD media with a detailed explanation of the associated risk factors of infection acquisition. Then, antibiotic sensitivity tests for the positive samples were conducted on plates of Mueller-Hinton agar. In addition, further Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was applied to the positive isolates to detect the pathogen and antibiotic resistance genes.

Results:
K. pneumoniae was effectively isolated from 8% of milk samples, 12% of nasal swabs, and 16% of sputum samples. Upon conducting antibiotic sensitivity tests, the isolated organisms showed resistance to 100% of Amoxicillin-clavulanic, 93.3% of Cefotaxime, 86.66% of Cepaxime, and 66.66% of Tetracycline. Only 11 out of 18 positive K. pneumoniae samples were PCR positive. Only 10 out of 11 positive PCR samples were positive for TetA(A) gene, however all 11 samples were positive for blaTEM genes.

Conclusion:
Overall, by focusing on various risk factors of disease acquisition, this study sheds light on the hitherto underestimated zoonotic hazard of K. pneumoniae. It also emphasizes the significance of integrating One Health into surveillance for antibiotic-resistant klebsiellosis and the necessity of ongoing innovation as well as collaboration to improve the efficacy of upcoming surveillance plans in Egypt to control the disease spread between animals and humans.

Key words: Cattle; Horses; Humans; K. pneumoniae; Surveillance; One Health.