TITLE:
Acinetobacter baumannii in Birds’ Feces: A Public Health Threat to Vegetables and Irrigation Farmers
AUTHORS:
M. Dahiru, O. I. Enabulele
KEYWORDS:
Wild Birds, Vegetables, Public Health, Ceporex, Co-Trimoxazole
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Microbiology,
Vol.5 No.10,
September
18,
2015
ABSTRACT: The rising trend of resistance in Acintobacter baumannii had in recent days become a public
health care concern with most literature reported from samples collected from hospital
environment. This research therefore, wishes to determine the occurrence of
multidrug-resistant A. baumannii in
birds’ droppings, associated with irrigated farms vegetables, for
epidemiological update and future clinical forecast. Forty eight birds fecal
samples were collected and processed for isolation and identification of A. baumannii on MacConkey agar and
Microbact 24E (Oxoid), and tested against 10 commonly used antibiotics
(quinolones, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides). A. baumannii was isolated from 31.25% of samples and had shown more resistant to ceporex (100.00%) and to streptomycin with 80.00%
and 90.00% for Jakara and Sharada farms’ fecal samples respectively;
isolates were however sensitive to co-trimoxazole. Forty eight (46.67%) of the
isolates were resistant to at least 6 drugs, with strong correlation between
some drugs. By this result, wild birds’ fecal materials demonstrate high
potential of A. baumannii carrying
capacity and dissemination, and thus pose risk of contaminating vegetables,
infecting human and transmitting resistance phenotype to other non-multidrug-resistant
bacteria—a situation quite challenging to health care management and public
health. And thus it further suggests
for screening of additional probable contributing factors, so as to develop possible
detailed transmission pathway and control strategies.