Glimpse into the biosecurity, antimicrobial usage, and antimicrobial resistance of fecal Escherichia coli associated with commercial chicken layer farms in a poultry dense area in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Industrial food animal production plays an essential role in the global food supply chain. In parallel with the growth of the Sri Lankan poultry sector, antimicrobial usage has also been increased with the aim of reducing disease incidents. The development of antimicrobial resistance due to the irrational use of antimicrobials is a global problem. Commensals like Escherichia coli (E. coli) can easily acquire and transfer resistance to pathogenic and zoonotic bacteria which cause treatment failures in both humans and animals. The present study was conducted in 50 poultry layer (commercial chicken layers) farms in Kurunegala district of Sri Lanka during the period from November 2016 to January 2017. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect information mainly on the management, biosecurity, and antimicrobial usage of selected farms. Further, E. coli were isolated from the fecal samples collected from 26 farms among those 50 farms, and their antimicrobial-resistant profiles (AMR) were investigated. Results revealed that 98% of the farms had poor biosecurity management practices while using at least one antimicrobial drug (98%). The most commonly used antimicrobial drug was enrofloxacin (79.6%) followed by amoxicillin (61.2%), both sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim (49%), tetracycline (26.5%), neomycin (22.4%), and tylosin (4.1%). AMR profile of fecal E. coli revealed that the highest resistance is for tetracycline(81.8%) followed by nalidixic acid (54.5%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (40.9%), ampicillin (45.5%) and ciprofloxacin (31.8%). Lower levels of resistance, 13.6%, 9.1%, and 4.5% were observed for streptomycin, ceftazidime, and imipenem respectively. All the isolates were susceptible to amikacin and gentamycin; while 68.18% of isolated E. coli were multidrug-resistant (MDR). AMR and MDR findings of this study highlight the need of implementing strategies to regulate the usage of antimicrobial drugs in poultry farms in Sri Lanka, to prevent and control the emergence of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens and diseases from a ‘one health’ perspective.