Prevalence and Antibiogram Profile of Salmonellae in Intensively Reared and Backyard Chickens in Nsukka Area, Nigeria

Salmonellosis is a veterinary and public health problem of major importance. It is a leading cause of food poisoning in humans and an important cause of various diseases of livestock resulting in high morbidity and mortality. A cross sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of salmonellae in intensively reared and backyard chickens from poultry farms and markets across Nsukka environs, and to determine their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles. A total of 300 chickens comprising of 150 intensively reared and 150 backyard chickens were sampled by cloacal swab using International Office of Epizootics (OIE) standards. Out of 300 samples, 12 (4%) were positive for salmonellae. Salmonellae prevalence rates of 1.3% in intensively reared and 6.7% in backyard chickens were observed. The prevalence rate of salmonellae was significantly higher (P ˂ 0.05) in backyard chickens than in intensively reared chickens. The antibiogram studies showed that the Salmonella serovars were totally (100%) resistant to amoxicillin and augmentin, moderately sensitive to nalidixic acid (67%) and nitrofurantoin (83%); and fully sensitive (100%) to ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, cotrimoxazole, and gentamicin. The MIC ranges for cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and tetracycline, were 8-16, 0.016-0.125, 0.5-1.0, and 2.0-8.0 μg/ml, respectively. MBC values of 0.031-0.5, 1.0-4.0, and 64.0-512.0 μg/ml, were obtain for ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and tetracycline, respectively. This study have shown that poultry birds harbour Salmonella spp. and could serve as reservoirs for the rare serotypes whose transmission vehicles remain unknown.Keywords: Salmonella spp., intensively reared chickens, backyard chickens, sensitive, resistant, antibiotic