Saka, Habeeb KayodeGarcía-Soto, SilviaDabo, Nasir TukurLópez Chavarrías, VicenteMuhammad, BashirUgarte Ruiz, MaríaÁlvarez Sánchez, Julio2026-01-152026-01-152020Saka, H. K., García-Soto, S., Dabo, N. T., Lopez-Chavarrias, V., Muhammad, B., Ugarte-Ruiz, M., & Alvarez, J. (2020). Molecular detection of extended spectrum β-lactamase genes in Escherichia coli clinical isolates from diarrhoeic children in Kano, Nigeria. PloS one, 15(12), e0243130. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.02431301932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0243130https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130379Author Contributions Conceptualization: Habeeb Kayode Saka, Nasir Tukur Dabo, Bashir Muhammad. Formal analysis: Habeeb Kayode Saka. Funding acquisition: Julio Alvarez. Investigation: Julio Alvarez. Methodology: Habeeb Kayode Saka, Silvia Garcı´a-Soto, Julio Alvarez. Project administration: Habeeb Kayode Saka. Supervision: Nasir Tukur Dabo, Bashir Muhammad, Maria Ugarte-Ruiz, Julio Alvarez. Writing – original draft: Habeeb Kayode Saka. Writing – review & editing: Habeeb Kayode Saka, Vicente Lopez-Chavarrias, Julio AlvarezThe increase in antimicrobial resistance in developed and developing countries is a global public health challenge. In this context β-lactamase production is a major contributing factor to resistance globally. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of phenotypic and genotypic extended spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) in 296 E. coli isolates recovered from diarrhoeic children younger than five years in Kano whose susceptibility profile against 7 antimicrobials had been determined. The E. coli isolates were subjected to double disc synergy test for phenotypic ESBLs detection and ESBL associated genes (blaCTX-M, blaTEM and blaSHV) were detected using conventional PCR. Phenotypically, 12.8% (38/296) E. coli isolates presented a ESBLs phenotype, with a significantly higher proportion in isolates from females compared with males (P-value = 0.024). blaCTX-M 73.3% and blaTEM 73.3% were the predominant resistance genes in the ESBLs positive E. coli (each detected in 22/30 isolates, of which 14 harboured both). In addition, 1/30 harboured blaCTX-M + blaTEM + blaSHV genes simultaneously. This study demonstrates the presence of ESBLs E. coli isolates in clinically affected children in Kano, and demonstrates the circulation of blaCTX-M and blaTEM associated with those phenotypes. Enactment of laws on prudent antibiotic use is urgently needed in KanoengAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/journal articlehttps://doi.org/ 10.1371/journal.pone.024313033270734open access636.09Veterinaria3109 Ciencias Veterinarias