Prevalence of Multi-antibiotic Resistant Bacteria in Birds Faeces and Soil Samples from Poultry Farms in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria

Aim: This study was designed to determine the prevalence of multi-antibiotic resistant bacteria in poultry faecal and soil samples from poultry farms in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria.

Introduction: The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in the treatment of animals' infection and as growth promoters is increasing the incidence of multi-antibiotic resistant bacteria at an alarming rate. This poses a danger to human health because resistant bacteria can be transferred to human through the food chain.

Methodology: Different isolating media were used to determine the microbial load of faecal and soil samples from two farms and bacterial identification was carried out by standard methods. A susceptibility profile of the bacterial isolates was determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and multiple antibiotic resistant (MAR) index was also determined.

Results: Soil samples showed high counts of the microbial load as compared with faecal samples, with count ranging from 0.2 to 10.5 ×105cfug-1. Majority of the isolates belonged to Gram-negative bacteria (90.9%) and five genera of bacterial isolates were identified in this study (Klebsiella, Citrobacter, Escherichia, Shigella, and Staphylococcus), while all the isolates showed 12.5 to 100% resistant to all the antibiotics used in this study. The prevalence of multi-antibiotic resistant was 100% and the MAR index ranged from 0.6 to 1.0.

Conclusion: The study revealed that samples from the poultry farms used were reservoirs of multi-antibiotic resistant bacteria and MAR index showed that the resistance observed was from the overuse of antibiotics in the environment. Therefore there should be strict regulations on the use of antibiotics in animals' farms and proper monitoring should be ensured by the government.