Comparative bacterial drug resistance in modern battery and free-range poultry in a tropical environment

A correlation between the use of antibiotics and drug resistance was found among Escherichia coli strains isolated from modern battery poultry at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. All 1248 E coli strains from university poultry and 2196 strains from a commercial poultry farm in Ibadan were resistant to tetracycline, streptomycin and sulphonamide, the minimal inhibitory concentrations of these drugs being found to be several times those of the control E coli NCTC 10418. In contrast, all 2284 strains isolated from free-range town and village poultry were sensitive to these drugs. In the tropical developing countries with poor environmental sanitation and low personal hygiene, this situation has public health implications.

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				A. E. van den Bogaard, N. London, C. Driessen, and E. E. Stobberingh Antibiotic resistance of faecal Escherichia coli in poultry, poultry farmers and poultry slaughterers J. Antimicrob. Chemother., June 1, 2001; 47(6): 763 - 771. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]