ISOLATION AND PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERIZATION OF MULTIDRUG RESISTANCE NON-E. COLI ENTEROBACTERIACEAE FROM POULTRY IN WESTERN ALGERIA: RESISTANCE TO MANY FIRST-LINE ANTIMICROBIAL AGENTS

This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial resistance to the commonly used antibiotics with particular attention to the first-line antimicrobial agents and to investigate the multidrug resistance levels of non-E. coli Enterobacteriaceae from poultry in Western Algeria. Enterobacteriaceae culture was done on MacConkey agar and their identification was determined by AP20E kit, Salmonella-positive isolates serotyping were performed according to Kauffmann-White-Le Minor's scheme. For susceptibility testing, the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method to a panel of 14 antibiotics was used according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. A total of 141 non-E. coli Enterobacteriaceae isolates (53 Proteus spp., 42 Enterobacter spp., 11 Citrobacter spp., 10 Klebsiella spp., 8 Serratia spp., 6 Salmonella spp., 4 Yersinia spp., 4 Edwardsiella spp., 2 Hafnia spp. and one Providensia spp.) were isolated in this study. Four different serotypes of Salmonella strains were identified in this work. The predominant isolates exhibited high levels of resistance to various first-line antibiotic classes, notably betalactamins, quinolones. Only the serotype Salmonella Kentucky was resistant to ciproflioxacin. All the strains isolated in this study were resistant to at least one antibiotic. Overall, 130 out of 141 isolates (92,19 %) demonstrated multidrug resistance (MDR). The dramatic increase in the rates of resistance to various first-line antimicrobial agents and the rapid spread of MDR in non-E.coli Enterobacteriaceae isolates of poultry origin can have major implications for public and animal health that should be approached urgently and pro-actively.