Antibiotics profiling of <i>Proteus mirabilis</i> and <i>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</i> isolated from some commercial poultry farms in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Proteus mirabilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are attracting attention as pathogenic organisms of public health importance, not only as agents of various infections in human and food animals(poultry inclusive), but also due to their ability to carry multidrug resistant traits that are often transferable to other pathogens of both human and animal. Constant tracking of the antibiotic susceptibilities of these organisms at different region within each country is of great epidemiological value to formulate well informed and scientific based preventive measures to curtail the spread of drug resistant pathogens through the food chain.

We screened 19 Proteus mirabilis and 35 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the cloaca swab of some commercial poultry from Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria; for their antibiotics susceptibilities to 10 commonly used antibiotics for food animals and humans in Nigeria; using standard methods. The fluoroquinolone resistant isolates were subsequently studied for point mutation at the GyrA of the quinolone resistant determining region by PCR assay. The Proteus mirabilis isolates had 100% resistance to: ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, amikacin, sulfamethoxazole,   chloramphenicol, and streptomycin and between 78.95% - 94.7% resistance to other antibiotics used. The fluoroquinolone resistant isolates possessed high MICs ranges between 16μg/mL ->128 μg/mL. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates  likewise displayed 100% resistance to: cefepime, sulfamethoxazole,    chloramphenicol, ampicillin and streptomycin and 71.43% - 97 14% resistance to the other antibiotics tested. The levofloxacin resistant isolates also exhibited a high
MICs ranges between 16μg/mL ->128 μg/mL and 5/21(23.8%) of the levofloxacin resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates exhibited 4-23 point mutations at the GyrA region of the quinolone resistant determining region. The study showed that the poultry in the studied area carries multidrug resistant pathogens that can serve as a source of drug resistant pathogen through the food chain to the public. Proper public health education on the potential health risk associated with the findings is advocated in the region.