Abstract

Antibiotic resistance in microorganisms, caused due to uncontrolled use of antibiotics has become an emerging problem in public health care. This study was undertaken to examine the incidence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in three varieties of poultry feeds (starter, finisher and layer) collected from 20 locations. Initially bacteria were isolated using selective media (EMB agar, MacConkey agar and Salmonella-Shigella agar) and identified biochemically. Twenty five Enterobacter belonging to 8 genera (Klebsiella, Shigella, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Enterobacter, Yersinia, Proteus and Escherichia) were isolated from feed samples. Among these Klebsiella was the most dominant genus and Salmonella was highly distributed among the three feed types. The distribution of bacteria in the three feed types were in the order, layer> finisher> starter. The layer feed showed 11.11 % incidence of Salmonella spp. The susceptibilities of the 25 isolates towards 15 antibiotics were examined. Except one, all the other isolates showed multiple antibiotic resistances. A 100 % resistance was observed against ampicillin, whereas, all isolates were sensitive to amikacin. Klebsiella spp. showed resistance to 12 antibiotics. The layer feed harboured highly resistant isolates that were resistant to 13 antibiotics. The prevalence of antibiotic resistant strains in poultry feeds strengthens the need for effective control measures during feed processing.

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