Characterization of bacterium types isolated from commercial laying hen farms in Ogun State Nigeria

This study investigated the distribution of bacterium categories isolated from poultry feces and litters on commercial laying hen farms in Remo and Egba local government areas, Ogun State, Nigeria. In total 29 species of lactose and non-lactose fermenters were recovered. Bacteria isolated from feces included Aeromonas hydrophila (27.5%), Providencia stuartii (15.5%), Actinobacillus sp. (9.1%), Burkholderia cepacia (7.7%), Serratia marcescens (4.9%), Citrobacter diversus (4.9%), Klebsiella oxytoca (4.2%), and Enterobacter gergoviae (4.2%). Others were Escherichia coli (2.1%), Plesiomonas shigelloides (2.1%), Vibrio alginolyticus (2.1%), Morganella morganii (2.1%), Pantoea agglomerans (1.4%), Vibrio mimicus (1.4%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.4%), Burkholderia pseudomallei (1.4%), Salmonella arizonae (0.7%), Klebsiella pneumonia (0.7%), Acinetobacter iwoffii (0.7%), Vibrio vulnificus (0.7%), Shewanella putrefaciens (0.7%), Proteus mirabilis (0.7%) and Proteus vulgaris (0.7%). There was 66.7% similarity between the bacterium profile of litters and that of feces; some additional strains were identified in the litters. No variation (p = 0.64) was observed in the number of isolated bacterium types from feces and litter samples. However, the number of bacterium types isolated from fecal samples differed (p = 0.002) between the two studied areas. Results suggest that there is a potential risk of wide-range bacterial transmission within poultry populations, and to humans in close contact with them