Bacterial Isolates and Antibiotic Resistance of Escherichia coli Isolated from Fresh Poultry Excreta Used for Vegetable Farming in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Alie H. D. Mansaray, Dennis P. Y. Yankson, Raymonda A. B. Johnson, Francis L. Moses, Joseph Sam Kanu, Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara, Rony Zachariah, Ajay M. V. Kumar and Kalaiselvi Selvaraj
Additional contact information
Alie H. D. Mansaray: Senior Agriculture Officer, Crops Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, West Wing, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Dennis P. Y. Yankson: Senior Agriculture Officer, Crops Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, West Wing, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Raymonda A. B. Johnson: Senior Agriculture Officer, Crops Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, West Wing, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Francis L. Moses: Directorate of Reproductive and Child Health, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Youyi Building, Brookfields, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Joseph Sam Kanu: National Disease Surveillance Program, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone National Public Health Emergency Operations Centre, Cockerill, Wilkinson Road, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Ibrahim Franklyn Kamara: World Health Organization, 21A-B Riverside, Off King Harman Road Freetown, Freetown 00232, Sierra Leone
Rony Zachariah: Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Ajay M. V. Kumar: International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 68 Boulevard Saint Michel, 75006 Paris, France
Kalaiselvi Selvaraj: All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur 441108, India

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: The transfer of antibiotic resistance from animals to humans is of concern in recent times. One potential source of such transfer is the untreated poultry excreta used as manure in farming. We aim to identify bacterial isolates and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Escherichia coli in poultry excreta in Sierra Leone. This was a cross-sectional study of fresh poultry excreta samples collected from four commercial poultry sites in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from June–September 2021. Bacterial isolates were tested against eight antibiotics using established standards. Of 100 samples, 93 showed Escherichia coli (93%): of those, eight isolates also had Salmonella (8%). E. coli was 100% resistant to all three ‘Watch’ drugs (erythromycin, cefoxitin and streptomycin) and tetracycline. E. coli was least resistant to ampicillin (12%), followed by chloramphenicol (35%). The prevalence of multidrug resistance was 95.6%. Multiple antibiotic resistance index ranged from 0.5–0.7 (optimal < 0.2), indicating high prior exposure to antibiotics in these poultries. Such high levels of resistance in E. coli isolated from poultry excreta could pose a serious threat to humans. We recommend (i) routine surveillance to monitor antibiotic resistance in poultry excreta, (ii) using poultry excreta as manure only after treatment and (iii) restricting the use of antibiotics as prophylactics and growth promoters in poultry feeds.

Keywords: one health; surveillance; antimicrobial resistance; microbial sensitivity tests; operational research; bacterial isolates; Escherichia coli; poultry excreta; SORT IT; Sierra Leone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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