Antibiotic Sensitivity Patterns of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Isolated from Chickens in Poultry Farms in Sokoto, Nigeria

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen associated with food poisoning and several forms of diseases in both man and animals. In poultry, the organism is incriminated in multiple infections and syndromes such as omphalitis, femoral head necrosis, tenosynovitis and bumble foot. The treatment of staphylococcal infections is becoming more challenging due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant strains such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that are currently resistant to all β-lactam antibiotics (penicillins and cephalosporins). In order to understand the spectrum of MRSA in poultry, a total of 12 MRSA isolates positive for the presence of penicillin binding protein 2α (PBP2α) were tested for antibiotic resistance against 10 antibiotics using disc diffusion method. Isolates were found to be completely resistant (100%) against ceftazidime, followed by erythromycin and ofloxacin (91.67%), cefuroxime, cloxacillin, and cefoxitin (83.33%), gentamicin (75.00%) and vancomycin (64.29%) while the least resistance was recorded against ceftriaxone and amoxicillin/clavulanate (58.33%). The MRSA isolates also exhibited multi-drug resistance pattern with all resisting not less than four antibiotics. These data indicate that MRSA are prevalent in the poultry and precautionary measures are required to block their transmission to human.