Antimicrobial resistance and minimum inhibitory concentrations of bacteria isolated from bustards in the United Arab Emirates.

The resistance to 11 antimicrobial agents of bacteria isolated from clinical and postmortem cases of five species of bustards maintained in captivity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 1995 to 1997 was determined by disc sensitivity. Of 226 isolates, 169 (74.8%) were gram-negative bacilli, with the majority identified as Escherichia coli (28.8%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (19%). The isolates of E. coli showed a high prevalence of resistance to amoxycillin (69%), tetracycline (66.7%), and sulphamethoxazole (43.3%). Moderate resistance to enrofloxacin was observed in E. coli (30%) and P. aeruginosa (19%) isolates. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) to seven antimicrobial agents were determined for 133 bacterial isolates from bustards during 1996 to 1997. Enrofloxacin (concentration required to inhibit 50% of the isolates [MIC50] < 0.5 microgram/ml) and gentamicin (MIC50 < or = 1.0 microgram/ml) exhibited good activity against both gram-negative bacilli and staphylococci isolated from bustards. Enrofloxacin (MIC50 < or = 1.5 micrograms/ml), gentamicin (MIC50 < or = 2.0 micrograms/ml), and piperacillin (MIC50 < or = 4.0 micrograms/ml) exhibited good activity against P. aeruginosa isolates. Amoxycillin/clavulanic acid showed good activity (concentration required to inhibit 90% of the isolates [MIC90] < or = 2.0 micrograms/ml) against gram-positive cocci and moderate activity (MIC50 < or = 3.0 micrograms/ml) against E. coli, Salmonella spp., and Klebsiella spp. Amoxycillin exhibited good activity (MIC50 < or = 0.5 microgram/ml) against gram-positive organisms and moderate activity (MIC50 < or = 1.0 microgram/ml) against Salmonella spp. These results provide information on the prevalence of resistant bacterial strains and the MICs of organisms derived from bustards in the UAE.