Abstract:
Salmonella represents a challenge in modern animal husbandry with a widespread occurrence among food animals such as poultry, pigs, cattle, e.t.c., and may be encountered in raw food products from such sources. Fluoroquinolones are broad spectrum antimicrobial agents used to treat gram negative and positive pathogens especially those resistant to other classes of antimicrobial drugs. The introduction of fluoroquinolones into veterinary therapy has been accompanied by an increase in resistant pathogens. This study was conducted to determine the incidence of fluoroquinolone resistant Salmonella from intensively reared pigs and chickens in Nsukka local Government area of Enugu state. Other antibiotics (non fluoroquinolones) were also used for the study to compare the reaction of Salmonella to different groups of drugs. A total of 5 Salmonella isolates (4.17%) was obtained from 120 animals (60 pigs and 60 chickens) sampled randomly from 12 medium to large scale farms. Three of the isolates were obtained from 2 infected pigs, of which one pig was a source of 2 isolates. The other 2 isolates were obtained from the birds, one isolate from one bird. A total of 14 antibiotics (5 fluoroquinolones and 9 non fluoroquinolones) were used for the study. Two isolates showed 100% (5/5) resistance to all 5 fluoroquinolones while 3 isolates and a standard organism (Salmonella gallinarum) showed 100% (5/5) susceptibility to fluoroquinolones. For non fluoroquinolones (which included Cephems, Aminoglycosides, Tetracycline, Chloramphenicol and Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid), 2 isolates showed 11.1% (1/9) resistance, 22.2% (2/9) intermediate resistance and 66.7% (6/9) susceptibility; 1 isolate showed 100% (9/9) susceptibility to all non fluoroquinolones; 1 isolate showed 33.3% (3/9) resistance and 66.7% (6/9) susceptibility to the drugs. The last isolate and the standard organism (S. gallinarum) showed 100% (9/9) susceptibility to non fluoroquinolones. Statistical analysis of the diameters of inhibition by antibiotics reveals that 4 isolates (including the standard organism) were more susceptible to non fluoroquinolones than fluoroquinolones while only 2 isolates were more susceptible to fluoroquinolones than non fluoroquinolones. These findings suggest a heavy reliance on fluoroquinolones than non fluoroquinolones by farm animal owners in the area.
