Multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. isolated from pigeons

Abstract

Background and Aim: Pigeon rearing has been gaining popularity for recent years. They are reared remarkably very close to the house of the owner. This activity, therefore, may pose potential threats for humans as well as other animals as pigeons may carry and spread different pathogens including drug-resistant bacteria. This study was conducted to explore the prevalence of Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. as well as their antibiogram profile along with an association analysis. Materials and Methods: Forty swab samples were collected from 20 pigeons during the study. E. coli and Salmonella spp. were isolated and identified on various types of agars, including MacConkey, Eosin methylene blue, Brilliant green, and Salmonella-Shigella agar. Biochemical tests such as the carbohydrate fermentation test, the triple sugar iron agar slant reaction, the indole test, the methyl red test, the catalase test, as well as the Voges–Proskauer test were also performed. Besides, the presence of E. coli was further confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Moreover, antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the isolates was performed against nine antibiotics from seven classes on the Mueller-Hinton agar based on the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method. Results: The overall prevalence of E. coli and Salmonella spp. was 52.5 and 27.5%, respectively. The prevalence of the pathogenic E. coli was 61.90%. The antibiogram profile of 21 E. coli as well as 11 Salmonella spp. revealed that all isolates, except one, were resistant to one to six antibiotics. Around 61.90%, 71.43%, 23.81%, 61.90%, 23.81%, 19.05%, and 52.38% of E. coli showed resistance against amoxicillin, ampicillin, azithromycin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid, gentamicin, and tetracycline, respectively. Furthermore, E. coli resistance was not observed in case of ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin. Similarly, around 36.36%, 27.27%, 27.27%, 45.45%, 81.82%, 100%, and 18.18% of the Salmonella spp. showed resistance against amoxicillin, ampicillin, azithromycin, erythromycin, nalidixic acid, tetracycline, and levofloxacin, respectively. However, all Salmonella spp. (100%) were found to show sensitivity against ciprofloxacin and gentamicin. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) E. coli (23.80%) and Salmonella spp. (54.54%) were also isolated. Furthermore, both positive (odds ratio [OR] >1) and negative (OR <1) drug resistance associations, with a higher frequency of positive associations, were found in E. coli. A significant positive association was observed between ampicillin and amoxicillin (OR: 81.67, 95% confidence interval: 2.73-2447.57, p=0.01). Conclusion: Pigeon carrying MDR E. coli and Salmonella spp. may contribute to the transmission and spread of these microorganisms. Therefore, strict hygienic measures should be taken during the farming of pigeons to decrease the potential transmission of E. coli and Salmonella spp. from pigeon to humans as well as other animals. So far, this is the first report of the PCR-based identification of pathogenic E. coli from pigeons in Bangladesh.

Virulence -Determinants and Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Salmonella Species Isolates from Fancy Pigeons in Port-Said Governorate, Egypt

“…At the same time, Elgohary et al [43] recorded a resistant of salmonella isolates to doxycycline. The current Salmonella isolates classified as multidrug resistant (MDR) with highest resistance to rifampicin and erythromycin (91.7% and 83.4%) followed by chloramphenicol and ampicillin (58.4% and 58.3%); which agreed with that previously reported by Abulreesh [7] and Hosain, et al [51] and disagreed with Karim et al [34] who reported resistant of salmonella isolates to erythromycin (19.05%). In contrast, results by Yousef and Mamdouh [52] and AS and Shalaby [47] revealed high sensitivity of salmonella isolates from pigeons to ampicillin, which disagreed with our antibiogram assay to ampicillin.…”

“…Our results run parallel with those recorded in; Dakahlia Governorate (6.7%, 2/30) by Abd El-Tawab et al [30], in Giza governorate (5%, 10/200) by Ahmed [28]. Moreover, Adesiyun et al [31], Dovč et al [32] and Methner and Lauterbach [33] isolated salmonella from pigeon cloacal swabs with percentages of 5, 5.7 and 7.04 respectively and less than that obtained by Abdeen et al [29] and Karim et al [34] who isolated salmonella from pigeons as 20% in Menoufiya Governorate. Also, Nabil and Younis [35] detected salmonella spp in 17% of pigeons collected from different governorates, where the isolation rate was (17.24%, 5/29) in Dakahlia, (17.39%, 4/23) in Damietta, (15%, 3/20) in Gharbia, (15.38%, 2/13) in Kafr ElSheik and (20%, 3/15) in Sharika Governorates But, lower rate of salmonella isolation was recorded as 2% only in the examined free-living pigeons in Makkah region, Saudi Arabia by Abulreesh [7] and as 1.5% in north England in the examined pigeon samples by Hughes et al [36].…”

Zoonotic Significance and Antimicrobial Resistance in Salmonella in Poultry in Bangladesh for the Period of 2011–2021

“…Various degrees of resistance found against NA have been reported in Salmonella in Bangladesh. About 20% to 100% resistance found in Salmonella to NA secluded from poultry and environmental samples at a different region of Bangladesh [23][24][25]32,40,43,45,47]. Early, Nikolić et al [90] observed 95.50% resistance of Salmonella to NA in broiler isolates in Serbia.…”

“…Azithromycin is an azalide, a sort of macrolide antibiotic. Salmonella in Bangladeshi poultry has been found to have varying degrees of azithromycin resistance, ranging from 18.18% to 81.25% [25,26,[33][34][35]39,40,48]. Last year, Tîrziu et al [93] also reported 88.20% resistance in Salmonella to azithromycin was isolated from store raw poultry in Romania.…”

“…A variable level of tetracycline resistance has been noticed in Salmonella to tetracycline in poultry in Bangladesh. Several studies had reported about 65% to100% resistance in Salmonella to tetracycline and oxytetracycline in layers and broilers in Bangladesh [25,27,29,30,[32][33][34][38][39][40]42,43,46,47]. Recently, Alam et al [38] and Tawyabur et al [42] detected tetracycline-resistant phenotype and the tetracycline-resistant gene tetA in Salmonella in poultry in Bangladesh.…”