Occurrence and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (Mrsa) in Layer Chickens in Kebbi, Nigeria

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health threat, and antimicrobial use in animal production for growth enhancement or prophylaxis contributes to the development of AMR. A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in poultry and farm attendants in Kebbi, North-Western Nigeria. A total of 207 cloacal and nasal swabs were randomly collected from four farms comprising 50 samples from each poultry farm and only 7 samples from farm attendants. The samples were analysed using routine bacteriological culture and identification techniques. Presumptive MRSA isolates were confirmed by PCR assay and AMR profiles of the isolates were evaluated using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Of the 207 samples examined, 37.5 % (75/200) of layer birds tested positive for MRSA and 71.4 % (5/7) of farm attendants were MRSA positive. All the isolates were susceptible to vancomycin, with an AMR index ˃ 0.3. The findings of this study indicated colonization of layer chickens and humans by multidrug resistant MRSA, thus highlighting the potential role of poultry sources of transmission of multidrug-resistant MRSA strains to humans and vice versa.