Knowledge, attitudes and practices on antibiotic use, litter handling and antibiograms of Escherichia coli from selected chicken farms in Wakiso Sub-county, Wakiso District, Uganda

Abstract

Chicken farm workers face health risks due to possible exposure to resistant bacteria and genes from chicken litter. Limited knowledge exists among chicken farms in Wakiso Subcounty in Uganda. This study therefore set out to determine the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPS) of farm workers on chicken litter handling and antimicrobial use as well as antibiograms and selected resistance genes of E. coli isolates obtained from chicken litter and chicken farm workers in selected chicken farms in Wakiso Subcounty. A cross-sectional study design was employed in this study. 30 chicken farms were visited to collect data. A structured questionnaire was used to assess the KAPS of farm workers on chicken litter handling and antimicrobial use followed by a non- participatory observation to observe farmers’ practices. 60 samples, 30 from chicken litter (L) and 30 from farmers’ hand swabs (H), were analysed for presence of E. coli using standard phenotypic tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests using 8 common antibiotics employed modified Kirby-Bauer agar disc diffusion technique and specific tetracycline (tetA, tetB) and sulphonamide (sul1, sul2) genes were assayed using multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Results showed that the knowledge of farm workers about litter handling and usage was high (74.5%) and their attitudes and practices were poor at the level of 48% and 47.7%, respectively. The knowledge of farm workers about antimicrobial use was good (68%), the attitudes of farm workers were favourable (76%) and the practices of farm workers were fair (51%). All observed farms were rated as fair in terms of general cleanliness. The overall prevalence of E. coli was 55% (n=60) out of which 83.3% where from L and 26.7% from H. Out of the eight antibiotics, tetracycline (TE) and trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole (SXT) were the most resisted by E. coli isolates whereby resistance to TE was observed in 100% of isolates from H and 96% from L and resistance to SXT was observed in 87.5% of isolates from H and 76% from L. Susceptibility by E. coli isolates was exhibited most towards Ceftriaxone and gentamycin by all the isolates from H, then 96% and 76%, respectively from L isolates. Multi-drug resistance was exhibited by 75.8% (n=33) samples out of which 25 samples were from L and 8 samples from H. The E. coli isolates (n=33), with positive amplicons of sul2 and sul1 genes were 93.9% and 39.4%, respectively. The E. coli isolates (n=33) with positive amplicons of tetA and tetB genes were 93.9% and 15.2%, respectively. High resistance of E. coli isolates from both farmers’ hand swabs and chicken litter and associated high prevalence of sul2, sul1, tetA and tetB genes was indicative of possible exposure of farm workers to resistance bacteria and genes from chicken litter which calls for more sensitisation to the farm workers about proper litter handling and antimicrobial use.