Research Paper
Omololu J, Bamidele KF
Abstract
The emergence of antibiotic resistance among humans has prompted concerns about the public health implications of antibiotic use in agriculture. One hundred (100) Poultry feed samples were collected, serially diluted and cultured using pour plate method. Identification of the isolates was based on the morphological and biochemical characteristics using Bergeys Manual of Determinative Bacteriology. The antibiotics susceptibility testing was carried out using the disk diffusion method. The microbial load of each samples ranged between 2.2 × 105 to 6.5 × 106. The overall percentage occurrence of the isolates revealed Staphylococcus spp. 25 (62.5%) and Salmonella spp. 15 (37.55%). Antibiotic sensitivity patterns of the bacterial isolates were tested against six commonly used antibiotics viz., gentamycin (GEN), vancomycin (VAN), oxacillin (Ox), penicillin (P), chloramphenicol (C) streptomycin (S). There was a slight susceptibility to gentamycin and vancomycin by Salmonella sp and S. aureus and moderately resistant to chloramphenicol and streptomycin but 100% resistant to penicillin and oxacillin used. Improper antibacterial treatment and overuse of antibiotics for agricultural purposes which contributed to increase incidence of multiple antibiotic resistances in farm animals must be discouraged.