Rats as possible agents of antibiotic resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa transmission through poultry in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is of public health concerns due to high morbidities and mortalities often occasioned by its multidrug resistant nature, particularly to drugs like fluoroquinolones and cephalosporin. Constant surveillance and tracking of its possible sources of transmission is therefore of epidemiological value. We screened 30 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from oral and rectum swabs of rats captured from some poultry houses in Nigeria; identified by conventional bacteriological procedures and confirmed with 16S ribosomal RNA PCR assay, for their antibiotic susceptibilities to 10 commonly used antibiotics in Nigeria based on standard method. The fluoroquinolone resistant strain were subsequently screened for point mutation at the GyrA of the quinolone resistant determining region(QRDR) through DNA amplification and sequencing. They exhibited 100% resistance at breakpoint concentrations for; ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, streptomycin and ampicillin. The 4/30(13.33%) fluoroquinolone resistant isolates displayed a high MICs ranges between 32μg/mL to 128μg/mL and one had 1 point mutation. This work shows that rat can be a source of transmission for drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa along the poultry value chain in Nigeria. There is an urgent need for public health education on the health risk associated with the possible transmission of these organism in Nigeria.