{"doi":"10.1289/ehp7729","title":"Environmental Spread of Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) Producing <i>Escherichia coli</i> and ESBL Genes among Children and Domestic Animals in Ecuador","abstract":"BACKGROUND: There is a significant gap in our understanding of the sources of multidrug-resistant bacteria and resistance genes in community settings where human-animal interfaces exist. OBJECTIVES: This study characterized the relationship of third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli (3GCR-EC) isolated from animal feces in the environment and child feces based on phenotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). METHODS: We examined 3GCR-EC isolated from environmental fecal samples of domestic animals and child fecal samples in Ecuador. We analyzed phenotypic and genotypic AMR, as well as clonal relationships (CRs) based on pairwise single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) analysis of 3GCR-EC core genomes. CRs were defined as isolates with fewer than 100 different SNPs. RESULTS: A total of 264 3GCR-EC isolates from children (n = 21), dogs (n = 20), and chickens (n = 18) living in the same region of Quito, Ecuador, were identified. We detected 16 CRs total, which were found between 7 children and 5 domestic animals (5 CRs) and between 19 domestic animals (11 CRs). We observed that several clonally related 3GCR-EC isolates had acquired different plasmids and AMR genes. Most CRs were observed in different homes (n = 14) at relatively large distances. Isolates from children and domestic animals shared the same bla CTX-M allelic variants, and the most prevalent were bla CTX-M-55 and bla CTX-M-65 , which were found in isolates from children, dogs, and chickens. DISCUSSION: This study provides evidence of highly dynamic horizontal transfer of AMR genes and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in the E. coli community and shows that some 3GCR-EC and (extended-spectrum b-lactamase) ESBL genes may have moved relatively large distances among domestic animals and children in semirural communities near Quito, Ecuador. Child-animal contact and the presence of domestic animal feces in the environment potentially serve as important sources of drug-resistant bacteria and ESBL genes.","journal":"Environmental Health Perspectives","year":2021,"id":152260,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":76,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.951,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2021-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":317479,"name":"Fernanda Loayza","orcid":"0000-0002-7629-4864","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":577004,"name":"Paúl Cárdenas","orcid":"0000-0001-9626-4489","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":418416,"name":"Carlos Saraiva-Garcia","orcid":"0000-0003-0224-9734","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":539346,"name":"Timothy J. Johnson","orcid":"0000-0001-7556-9347","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":478531,"name":"Heather K. Amato","orcid":"0000-0002-0501-0756","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":317480,"name":"Jay P. Graham","orcid":"0000-0001-7062-6293","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":317481,"name":"Gabriel Trueba","orcid":"0000-0003-2617-9021","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":646574,"name":"Liseth Salinas","orcid":"0000-0001-6319-3012","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":51,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:43:22.562252Z","pmid":"33617318","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}