EVALUATION OF PREVALENCE AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE USING Escherichia coli ISOLATES FROM PIGS AND POULTRY BIRDS IN ABIA STATE, NIGERIA

The prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Escherichia coli isolates from pigs and poultry birds was studied. This was carried out through antimicrobial resistance evaluation in Escherichia coli isolated from pigs and poultry in Nigeria. Cloacae samples and rectal samples from pigs were collected using sterile swabs. Based on colonial morphology, gram reaction, oxidase testing and indole-methyl red-voges-proskauer-citrate battery testing, E. coli was identified. Three hundred and ten Escherichia coli were isolated from faecal samples of pigs, 270 E. coli from poultry birds. These isolates were antibiogram-phenotyped for their resistance by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar plates. E. coli strains showed a high percentage of antimicrobial resistance (>75%) in both animals, with resistance to streptomycin and ampicillin being the most commonly observed patterns. In both animals species multi resistance occurred in more than 40% of isolated strains. Poultry strains showed higher resistance levels (20-50%) than strains obtained from pig (10-20%) when they were tested against quinolones. Low level of resistance of E. coli to ciproflox (6%), gentamycin (3%), and peflacin (11%) was observed. Percentage of resistance to streptomycin (80%), ceporex (65%), nalidixic acid (60%) and ampicillin (90%) were high. Twelve resistance patterns of E. coli isolates from pigs and poultry found. Ampicillin/streptomycin resistance pattern was most frequent. These results indicate presence of drug resistant E. coli in our food animals which necessitates regular monitoring of antimicrobial resistance trends in the clinical isolates obtained from different regions to all classes of clinically used agents to detect resistance trends.