Investigating Virulence and Multidrug Resistance Capability of Klebsiella Pneumoniae Isolates From Karish

Gamal, Basma; Mostafa, Noura F; seleem, Aya; Ibrahim, Ghada; Sakr, Sally; Mohamed, Sahar; Ali, Asmahan; Afifi, Abeer; Ezzat, Eman; Sadek, Mustafa

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2025.378956.2808

	Investigating Virulence and Multidrug Resistance Capability of Klebsiella Pneumoniae Isolates From Karish "Soft" Cheese and Chicken Carcasses Sold in Qena City, Egypt
Egyptian Journal of Veterinary Sciences
Articles in Press, Corrected Proof, Available Online from 22 July 2025 PDF (980.58 K)
Document Type: Original Article
DOI: 10.21608/ejvs.2025.378956.2808
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Authors
Basma Gamal¹; Noura F Mostafa²; Aya seleem³; Ghada Ibrahim⁴; Sally Sakr⁵; Sahar Mohamed⁶; Asmahan Ali⁶; Abeer Afifi⁶; Eman Ezzat⁷; Mustafa Sadek ¹
¹Department of Food Hygiene and Control, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt
²Gastro-Enterology Surgery Center (GEC), Mansoura University, Mansoura
³Department of Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University
⁴Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Animal Health Research Institute (AHRI), Bacteriology De-partment, Ismailia Branch, 41511, Egypt
⁵Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, College of Agriculture and Food, Qassim Uni-versity, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia Dairy Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza 12613, Egypt
⁶Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, College of Agriculture and Food, Qassim Uni-versity, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia
⁷Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Hygiene and food control), King Salman International University, Ras Sudr, Egypt
Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae significantly contributes to antimicrobial-resistant infections in humans, posing a considerable risk to both human and animal health worldwide, so this study was designed to identify the virulence and antimicrobial resistance profile of K. pneumoniae isolated from chicken carcasses and raw milk soft "Karish" cheese in Qena city, Egypt. One hundred food samples, 50 samples of each were examined for K. pneumoniae presence. A total of only seven isolates were confirmed to be K. pneumoniae through biochemical tests. PCR was performed for several virulence genes (iutA, kfu and rmpA genes) and antimicrobial resistance genes (mcr-1, bla_SHV, bla_CTX-Mand bla_CMY-2 genes). In total, 7% of food samples tested positive for K. pneumoniae, one isolate from chicken carcasses and six from Karish cheese samples. All isolates exhibited resistance to amoxicillin, ceftazidime and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, while they were susceptible to imipenem, gentamicin, tobramycin, cefotaxime, aztreonam and meropenem. K. pneumoniae isolates from Karish cheese samples showed susceptibility to imipenem (100%), gentamicin and tobramycin (83.33%), while (100%) resistance was displayed against amoxicillin, ceftazidime and amoxicillin clavulanic acid. The most predominant virulence gene was iutA (100%), followed by kfu (85.7%). All K. pneumoniae isolates were found to carry bla_SHV.Five mcr-1 and two bla_CTX-M-producing K. pneumoniae isolates were recovered, while bla_CMY-2 was absent in all isolates. Our results raising serious concerns as K. pneumoniae poses significant public health risks because consumption of such products may transmit resistant strains to humans through the food chain, so stricter regulations are required to ensure food safety.
Keywords
Food safety; K. pneumoniae; virulence; antimicrobial resistance


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Investigating Virulence and Multidrug Resistance Capability of Klebsiella Pneumoniae Isolates From Karish "Soft" Cheese and Chicken Carcasses Sold in Qena City, Egypt