Significance of detection of drug-resistant organisms in laboratory animal colonies

根据我们以前在日本1960年代和1980年代获得的数据，为控制传染病而给予抗生素的实验动物中暂时分离出耐药生物，而在未经抗生素治疗的动物中几乎没有检测到耐药生物。这些观察结果显然不同于在人类和家畜中广泛感染各种耐药生物的发现。基于这些数据，我们计划建立一个动物模型，用于调查人类和动物病房中耐药菌的分布。首先，目前的检查是为了证实我们以前的数据，耐药生物很难从实验动物中分离出来。对九州地区5个商业养殖场和5个动物实验设施饲养的小鼠、大鼠、豚鼠和家兔的新鲜粪便进行了大肠杆菌、粪链球菌和金黄色葡萄球菌的分离。采用常规方法检测菌株对氨苄西林、四环素、链霉素、卡那霉素、庆大霉素等9种抗生素的耐药性。所有菌株均对多种抗生素耐药，且耐药模式不同。虽然没有使用抗生素，但也从实验动物中分离出了耐药生物。目前的研究结果表明，耐药菌在实验动物中与在人和家畜中一样普遍存在。现在，实验动物似乎不是一个合适的模型来调查耐药组织在病房的分布。

According to our previous data obtained in 1960s and 1980s in Japan, drug-resistant organisms were temporarily isolated from the laboratory animals given antibiotics for control of infectious diseases, and were hardly detected in the animals untreated with antibiotics. These observations were apparently different from the findings that various types of drug-resistant organisms were widely contaminated in human beings and domestic animals. Based on these data, we have a plan to establish an animal model for investigation on the distribution of drug resistant organisms in human and animal wards.At first, the present examination was made to confirm our previous data that drug-resistant organisms were hardly isolated from the laboratory animals. Isolation of E.coli, Streptococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus aureus was made on the fresh feces of mice, rats, guinea-pigs and rabbits housed in 5 commercial breeders and 5 animal experimentation facilities in Kyushu aereas. Using a routine techniques, the isolates were examined for drug-resistance to 9 antibiotics including ampicillin, tetracyclin, streptomycin, kanamycin, gentamycin and others.All the isolates were resistant to various antibiotics with different paterns. Drug-resistant organisms were also isolated from laboratory animals though given no antibiotics. The present results indicated that drug-resistant organisms were widely disturbed in the laboratory animals same as human beings and domestic animals. And now, laboratory animals seems to be not an adequate model for investigation on the distribution of drug-resistant oragnaims in the wards.