Vol. 8, Special Issue 6 (2023)

Author(s): Sujitha Veeraganti, R Sai Kumar Reddy, A Vijaya Kumar and E Kumar

Abstract: Salmonellosis is a bacterial infection caused by Salmonella, a member of Enterobacteriaceae family. It is one of the most prevalent diseases in birds, causing high losses in poultry industry and food poisoning in human. There is a limited information about the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in backyard chickens. The current investigation was conducted to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella in backyard chicken. A total of 250 samples were aseptically collected from backyard chicken from rural areas in and around Hyderabad. Samples included cloacal swabs and fecal samples. All the collected samples were tested for Salmonella isolates using traditional method and confirmed by ABST. Out of 250 samples 17 (6.8%) isolates of Salmonella were formed. Antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates against 11 antimicrobial agents was determined by the standard disc diffusion method. 100% of the tested Salmonella isolates were found to be resistant to oxytetracycline and 82.3% strains showed resistance to tetracycline. Whereas erythromycin and levofloxacin showed 58.8% and 52.9% resistance respectively. No isolate showed resistance to ciprofloxacin. Isolates against ampicillin (76.4%), ceftriaxone (70.5%), and ciprofloxacin (94.1%) showed the highest sensitivity. The isolates exhibited intermediate sensitivity to neomycin (47.05%), chloramphenicol (58.8%), and gentamycin (76.4%). With the increased popularity of keeping backyard chickens, the current study emphasizes the zoonotic risk from Salmonella spp. associated with country chicken.

DOI: 10.22271/veterinary.2023.v8.i6Sa.808