Detection of Multidrug Resistant Gram Negative Bacteria in Healthy Cattle from Maiduguri Metropolitan, Nigeria

Aim: Prevalence of multidrug resistant bacteria on apparently health animals has turned antibiotic resistance to multifaceted process and threatens global food security and public health. The aim of the present study was to investigate the resistance profile of isolates from apparently healthy cattle in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Methodology: A total of 120 nasal swab samples were collected from cattle. Colony identification was according to the guidelines of Bergey’s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. The susceptibility pattern of the isolates was conducted on the identified isolates according to the Modified Kirby-Baur disc diffusion method on Muller-Hilton agar and interpreted according to the procedures of Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI, 2018) guidelines. Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Index (MARI) was calculated using the formula, MARI=a/b where “a” is the number of antibiotic resisted and “b” is the total number of antibiotic used in the study.

Results: Of the total samples (120) from cattle 96 (80%) detected the following isolates; E. coli was the most commonly recovered isolates (33, 34.4%), followed by Klebsiella spp (28, 29.2%), Salmonella spp (21, 21.9%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (14, 14.5%). In this study, all the recovered isolates were found to be multidrug resistant gram negative bacteria, with highest resistance was shown by Salmonella spp. The high MARI observed in all the isolates in this study ranging from 0.7 to 0.9. MARI value of 0.2 > is suggests multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria and indicate presence of highly resistant bacteria.

Conclusion: The study indicates highly resistant bacteria are carried by healthy food animals. Thus, there is need for continued monitoring of antibiotics use in animal husbandry to prevent further spread of resistance in Maiduguri, Nigeria.