Occurrence of and Amongst Non-Lactose-Fermenting Bacterial Isolates in Chickens and Their Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns.

A serious concern of public-health proportion is rising from the carriage of antibiotic resistance determinant in Non-Lactose-Fermenting Bacteria and acquisition of virulence particularly in strains that are not routinely isolated or screened from common food animals. This study investigated the resistance profile and pathogenicity potential of selected Non-Lactose-Fermenting Bacteria isolated from 18 poultry farms. In total, we investigated the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of 25 and 71 isolated from chicken faeces by testing them against 12 antibiotics. Resistance genes borne by the selected isolates were screened by sequencing the genetic location of resistance determinants was determined by plasmid curing. The virulence potential of the studied strains was determined phenotypically. isolates were mostly resistant to azetronam (93%), followed by trimethoprim (90%), cefotaxime (86%) and then amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (57%), while . isolates were most resistant to azetronam (94%), trimethoprim (90%), cefepime (80%), piperacillin (75%) and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (70%). The Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Index of and isolates respectively ranged from 0.0 to 0.8 and 0.0 to 0.9. Polymerase Chain Reaction revealed the presence of antibiotic resistance factors such as CTX-M, S, aac (6')-lb-cr and SHV while plasmid curing revealed carriages of resistance determinants on Resistance Plasmid. Moreover, virulence enzymes such as alkaline protease and phospholipase C were found in 3% and 12% of and , respectively. This study reports the first occurrence of and strains from chicken faeces, and their antimicrobial resistance and relative virulence suggest the encroachment of food animals by the under-studied non-lactose-fermenting bacteria that should alert public health concerns.