Advances in Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Research Article
Adv. Anim. Vet. Sci. 6(1): 8-11
Http://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.aavs/2018/6.1.8.11
View Full HTML
Download PDF

Iliya D. Kwoji*1, Farouk M. Tambuwal2, Mikaeel B. Abubakar2, Yusuf Yakubu3, Jasini A. Musa1, Solomon Jauro1, Asinamai A. Bitrus4

1Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri, P.M.B 1069, Borno State, Nigeria; 2Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Sokoto State, Nigeria; 3Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, Sokoto State, Nigeria; 4Department of Microbiology and Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor Malaysia.

Abstract | Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen associated with food poisoning and several forms of diseases in both man and animals. In poultry, the organism is incriminated in multiple infections and syndromes such as omphalitis, femoral head necrosis, tenosynovitis and bumble foot. The treatment of staphylococcal infections is becoming more challenging due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that are currently resistant to all β-lactam antibiotics (penicillins and cephalosporins). In order to understand the spectrum of MRSA in poultry, a total of 12 MRSA isolates positive for the presence of penicillin binding protein 2α (PBP2α) were tested for antibiotic resistance against 10 antibiotics using disc diffusion method. Isolates were found to be completely resistant (100%) against ceftazidime, followed by erythromycin and ofloxacin (91.67%), cefuroxime, cloxacillin, and cefoxitin (83.33%), gentamicin (75.00%) and vancomycin (64.29%) while the least resistance was recorded against ceftriaxone and amoxicillin/clavulanate (58.33%). The MRSA isolates also exhibited multi-drug resistance pattern with all resisting not less than four antibiotics. These data indicate that MRSA are prevalent in the poultry and precautionary measures are required to block their transmission to human.

Keywords | Antibiotics, Chickens, Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Sokoto, Nigeria