Vol. 9, Special Issue 1 (2024)

Author(s): Sudesh Sharma, Surendra, Pankaj Dhakarwal, Veenu Singhal, Arpita Sain and Taruna Bhati

Abstract: Enterococci are frequent inhabitants of GIT of poultry but can also lead to systemic infections. The purpose of this study was to isolate Enterococcus species (E. faecalis and E. faecium) from healthy poultry cloacal swabs and to conduct genotypic characterisation and antibiogram study. In the present study, out of 50 cloacal swab samples a total of 44 Enterococcus species were identified by tuf gene and sod A gene based PCR. Overall prevalence recorded was 88% and of the 44 Enterococcus species, 27 (54%) were identified as E. faecium, and 17 (34%) as E. faecalis. In antibiogram study, out of the 14 antibiotics used, three namely, chloramphenicol, co-trimoxazole, and trimethoprim were 100% effective against all the isolates, followed by gentamicin (97.7%) and ampicillin (95.5%). The highest resistance was shown towards tetracycline (95.5%) followed by doxycyclines (70.5%) and erythromycin (22.7%). This study highlights the diversity of Enterococcus in the food chain and the need for routine antibiotic resistance surveillance in food animals such as poultry.