| There is little data regarding drinking water contaminated with antibiotic resistant (AR) bacteria and the potential human health impacts associated with its consumption. The aim of this study was to determine if AR Escherichia coli contaminated private drinking water (PDW) is a reservoir of transmission of AR E. coli into humans. AR E. coli was cultured from 11.7% PDW (n=8788) and 35.6% (n=953) fecal samples. The most prevalent ARs were to tetracycline (78.9%; 64.3%), ampicillin (37.4%; 64.9%) and sulfonamides (46.4%; 56.9%) in PDW and fecal samples, respectively. Multidrug resistance (resistance to more than one antibiotic) was common in water (7.3%; n=8788) and human (27.1%; n=921) samples. Genetically related strains of AR E. coli, as determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, were identified in PDW and fecal isolates of the individuals consuming the contaminated PDW, indicating that PDW may be a vehicle of transmission for AR E. coli into the human population. |
