Populations of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are different in human-polluted environment and food items: a multicentre European study

Abstract Objectives To assess the extent to which food items are a source of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) -producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) and ESBL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-Kp) for humans in five European cities. Methods We sampled 122 human polluted (hp)-environments (sewers and polluted rivers, as a proxy of human contamination) and 714 food items in Besancon (France), Geneva (Switzerland), Sevilla (Spain), Tubingen (Germany) and Utrecht (The Netherlands). A total of 254 ESBL-Ec and 39 ESBL-Kp isolates were cultured. All genomes were fully sequenced to compare their sequence types (ST) and core genomes, along with the distribution of blaESBL genes and their genet…