Current Situation of Bacterial Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles in Pet Rabbits in Spain.

Research on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in pet rabbits is very scarce. The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the current state of AMR in rabbits attended to in veterinary clinics distributed in Spain. Records of 3596 microbiological results of clinical cases submitted from 2010 to 2021 were analyzed. spp. (15.8%), spp. (12.7%), spp. (10%), spp. (9.6%) and spp. (6.8%) were the most frequently diagnosed agents. Enterobacteriaceae, principally , and , accounted for about 18% of the cases and showed the highest proportion of multi-drug resistance (MDR) isolates, with 48%, 57.5% and 36% of MDR, respectively. Regarding the antimicrobial susceptibility testing for a number of antimicrobial categories/families, the largest proportion of isolates showing resistance to a median of five antimicrobial categories was observed in , and spp. In contrast, infections caused by , spp. and were highly sensitive to conventional antimicrobials authorized for veterinary use (categories D and C). The emergence of AMR major nosocomial opportunistic pathogens such as and in pet rabbits can represent a serious public health challenge. Consequently, collaboration between veterinarians and human health professionals is crucial in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, to optimize, rationalize and prudently use antimicrobial therapies in domestic animals and humans.