Rapid detection of tetracycline resistance in bovine Pasteurella multocida isolates by MALDI Biotyper antibiotic susceptibility test rapid assay (MBT-ASTRA)

Pasteurella multocida is notorious for its role as an opportunistic pathogen in infectious bronchopneumonia, the economically most important disease facing cattle industry and leading indication for antimicrobial therapy. To rationalize antimicrobial use, avoiding imprudent use of highly and critically important antimicrobials for human medicine, availability of a rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test is crucial. The objective of the present study was to design a MALDI Biotyper antibiotic susceptibility test rapid assay (MBT-ASTRA) procedure for tetracycline resistance detection in P. multocida. This procedure was validated on 100 clinical isolates with MIC-gradient strip test, and a comparison with disk diffusion was made. Sensitivity and specificity of the MBT-ASTRA procedure were 95.7% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 89.8-101.5) and 100% (95% CI = 100-100), respectively, classifying 98% of the isolates correctly after only three hours of incubation. Sensitivity and specificity of disk diffusion were 93.5% (95% CI = 86.3-100.6) and 96.3% (95% CI = 91.3-101.3) respectively, classifying 95% of the isolates correctly. In conclusion, this MBT-ASTRA procedure has all the potential to fulfil the need for a rapid and highly accurate tetracycline susceptibility testing in P. multocida to rationalize antimicrobial use in outbreaks of bronchopneumonia in cattle or other clinical presentations across species.