Multidrug resistant strains of <i>Escherichia coli</i> from Faeces of Layer birds in Jamalpur, Bangladesh

Abstract

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a facultative anaerobic bacterium commonly found in the intestines and is mostly harmless. However, E. coli has the ability to cause a wide range of diseases in the gastrointestinal, urinary, and nervous systems of man and animals. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics in animal production, hospitals, and agriculture are among the major sources for the development of antimicrobial resistance. Through horizontal gene transfer, E. coli possesses a number of resistance genes that have made it resistant to many antibiotics. The aim of this study was to detect E. coli and determine the antimicrobial resistant pattern of E. coli isolated from poultry faecal samples from Jamalpur, Bangladesh. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern was assessed using disc diffusion method according to the guidelines of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute and the detection was achieved using the polymerase chain reaction

(PCR). From the forty (40) faecal samples, fifteen (15) were positive based on the culture and biochemical identification method. PCR analysis confirmed nine (9) isolates to be PCR positive. The results showed that all 15 isolates were resistant to at least eight (8) antibiotics from at least four (4) different classes of antibiotics indicating multidrug resistance of the isolates. The results show a very high risk of antibiotic resistance with an MAR index greater than 0.2 for all the E. coli isolates. Interventions using a one-health approach to tackle the menace of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are required.