There are increasing reports of antimicrobial treatment failures for bacterial diseases of poultry in Uganda. The paucity of data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) of pathogenic bacteria in Uganda is a major setback to AMR control. This study investigated the occurrence of fowl typhoid, colibacillosis, and AMR in associated pathogens from 2012 to 2018. Laboratory records from the Central Diagnostic Laboratory (CDL), a National Veterinary Diagnostic Facility located at Makerere University, were reviewed. Archived isolates of the causative bacteria for the two diseases were also evaluated for AMR. The frequencies of the two disease conditions, their clinical and necropsy presentations and the demographic data of the diagnostic samples were summarized from the records. Archived bacterial isolates were revived before antimicrobial susceptibility testing. This was done on Mueller Hinton agar using the disk diffusion method, against 16 antimicrobials of medical and veterinary importance according to the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines. A total of 697 poultry cases were presented for bacteriological investigations in the review period. Colibacillosis and salmonellosis had prevalence rates of 39.7% (277/697) and 16.2% (113/697), respectively. A total of 63 and 92 isolates of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp., respectively, were archived but 43 (68.3%) E. coli and 47 (51.1%) Salmonella spp. isolates were recovered and evaluated for AMR. Multidrug resistance was more frequent in E. coli (38; 88.4%) than salmonellae (25; 53.2%), ( p < 0.001). The high prevalence of colibacillosis, salmonellosis and the AMR of associated pathogens warrants immediate institution of appropriate disease control measures.

BackgroundSouth Sudan has endured decades of armed conflict, with the most recent in 2016. This has left the health system and infrastructure overstretched by a myriad of infectious diseases like tuberculosis. Our study aimed at quantitatively and qualitatively documenting TB dynamics and challenges with access to health care during a period of civil unrest in Wau.Materials & MethodsA cross sectional study was carried out between January and February 2016 at Wau Teaching Hospital (WTH). Sputum was randomly collected from 207 of the 1035 TB suspects and analyzed using Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) and Fluorescent Microscopy (FM), Culture, Capilia MTBC Neo, and DST. The laboratory results and questionnaire metadata were used for descriptive statistics, logistic regression in R version 3.4.2. These results were presented along with results from a qualitative assessment of the situation at WTH.ResultsOf 207 TB suspects, 39 (18.8%) were positive on FM with bacilli growth on culture, later confirmed as Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Only 5.4% of the cases were resistant to Isoniazid. Age; 20–45 OR = 13 (95%CI = 2.4–25.6, p = 0.011), > 46 OR = 3 (95%CI = 0.5–58, p = 0.005) and raw milk consumption OR = 2.2 (95%CI = 0.37–42.48, p = 0.005) were associated with being TB positive. The qualitative evaluation reveals that gunfights in the surroundings of Wau influenced the number of patients attending WTH, with some travelling up to 545 km to seek medical attention.ConclusionWe report a high prevalence of tuberculosis among patients who presented at WTH, with approximately 1 out of 5 individuals testing positive for tuberculosis. This is likely an underestimation given the challenges patients had to endure as they sought medical attention. Tuberculosis epidemiology is likely to be driven by individual and household factors, but further investigations are needed to fully understand the risk profile. The tools in use were adequate for TB diagnostics and we observed a remarkably low prevalence of drug resistance, a statistic that is worth preserving. We therefore call for action from all stakeholders.

Background: In Uganda, detection of brucellosis in goats and humans is more frequently done using rose bengal plate test (RBPT) in comparison to other serological tests such as serum agglutination test (SAT) and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (i-ELISA). Aim:This study aimed at estimating the degree of agreement, specificity and sensitivity of RBPT, SAT, and ELISA in brucellosis detection in human and goat samples.Materials and Methods: An analytical study was conducted involving parallel testing of 425 goat samples and 177 human samples to compare RBPT, SAT, and i-ELISA tests of brucellosis detection. Results:A seroprevalence of 14.82% in animals and 11.86% in humans was detected using RBPT, 7.06% in goats and 5.09% in humans using SAT, and 6.35% in humans and 4.52% in animals using i-ELISA. The degree of agreement between the three tests in humans and animals was compared using Fleiss' kappa statistics where a moderate agreement (MA) was obtained for both with kappa value 0.57 in animals and 0.51 in humans and p<0.001. Kappa values in animals were 0.52 (MA) for RBPT and i-ELISA, 0.61 (MA) for RBPT and SAT, and 0.82 substantial agreement (SA) for SAT and i-ELISA. The kappa values in humans were 0.52 (MA) for RBPT and i-ELISA, 0.57 (MA) for RBPT and SAT, and 0.82 (SA) for SAT and i-ELISA, respectively. The study revealed a significant agreement in the tests for all the three tests, but there was SA between SAT and i-ELISA in both animal and human samples. Sensitivity and specificity of RBT and SAT were estimated using i-ELISA as a gold standard as follows, in goats RBPT: 100 and 91% and SAT: 100 and 99%, respectively, and in humans RBPT: 100 and 92% and SAT: 88 and 99%, respectively. Conclusion:It appears that RBPT is good as a screening test, whereas SAT and i-ELISA are good for diagnosis purposes or confirmatory test.

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Background and Aim: Since 2015, local newspapers reported that pig and poultry farmers in Uganda use antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to promote growth in animals and control diseases. This study was conducted to assess farmers' knowledge, attitude and perceptions about the use of antiretroviral drugs as boosters in pigs and poultry and the possibility of detecting the antiretroviral drugs in meat using available laboratory methods. Materials and Methods: In 2019, a cross-sectional study was conducted in ten districts in Uganda. In 20 focus group discussions with 100 pig and poultry farmers and 70 animal health service providers, we assessed the use of ARV in livestock enterprises. Subsequently, samples of chicken, pigs, and animal feeds were collected from volunteer participants, and screened for residues of saquinavir, lopinavir, nevirapine, and efavirenz using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrophotometer. Results: Participants in all ten districts were predominantly smallholder farmers supplying the local markets. All groups reported the use of ARVs in pigs and broiler birds but not in layer hens. In the absence of good quality feeds, the motivation for feeding ARVs was rapid animal weight gain, as well as the control of animal diseases, for which farmers have no alternative solutions. ARVs were obtained within the community for free, against cash, or in-kind payment. Residues of lopinavir were detected in four, and saquinavir in seven districts, and all three sample matrices. Conclusion: Our study findings confirm anecdotal news reports on ARV use in livestock. While our findings are not generalizable to the whole country, they call for a representative follow-up. As the drugs were detected in tissues destined for human consumption, the potential risk to human health warrants further investigation.