Antimicrobial resistance of Listeria monopytogenes isolated from a poultry further processing plant

The aim of this study was to compare antimicrobial resistance profiles of distinct types of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from a commercial poultry cooking plant. One hundred fifty-seven L. monocytogenes isolates representing 14 different actA types were tested for susceptibility to 19 antimicrobial drugs using the broth microdilution method. All isolates were susceptible to antimicrobials except for ceftriaxone (153 isolates [97%] intermediate or resistant), oxacillin with 2% NaCl (142 isolates [90%] resistant), ciprofloxacin (59 isolates [37%] intermediate or resistant), tetracycline (5 isolates [3%] resistant), clindamycin (43 isolates [27%] intermediate), linezolid (3 isolates [2%] intermediate), and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (1 isolate [< 1%] intermediate). Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance was low among all actA types. There was a low amount of diversity of resistotypes, which were defined in this study as subdivisions of actA types according to antimicrobial resistance profiles of the isolates. The five tetracycline-resistant isolates represented all the members of one actA type in lineage II. This study showed that antimicrobial resistance is not highly prevalent in L. monocytogenes from a poultry further processing environment. Types of L. monocytogenes as distinguished by actA sequencing do not predict antimicrobial resistance except possibly for tetracycline resistance. L. monocytogenes types that persist in a poultry cook plant are not related to antimicrobial resistance, and excluding tetracycline resistance, antimicrobial resistance does not seem to differ according to actA type or lineage.