Antimicrobial resistance profiles of Escerichia coli in different farming systems in Kamuli and Isingiro districts of Uganda

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global crisis, as new forms of resistance emerge and are spreading quickly between continents. The problem of AMR is vast in developing countries, where the burden of infectious diseases is enormous. E. coli is commensal organism of the mammalian gut and is also a reservoir of AMR genes. Through horizontal gene transfer, E. coli exchanges genetic material especially of resistant genes making it a useful indicator of AMR. Additionally, it’s found everywhere which makes its monitoring especially in food producing animals possible.(Fearnley, 2022) Several pathogenic strains of E. coli are known to be resistant to a number of antibiotics. However, there is limited data on antimicrobial profiles of Escherichia coli isolates from Ugandan livestock and farmers. We, therefore, conducted this cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of E. coli AMR among humans, cattle and the associated predisposing factors in agro-pastoral farming systems of Kamuli and Isingiro districts of Uganda, as both of these districts are located within the cattle corridor. A total of 284 fecal samples were collected from both animals and humans in the study areas, followed by bacterial isolation and antimicrobial susceptibility tests on nine antimicrobial drugs from (Oxoid; Basingstoke, in the United Kingdom) i.e ciprofloxacin (5μg), gentamycin (10 μg), tetracycline (30 μg), amoxicillin (25μg), vancomycin (30μg), ampicillin (10μg), erythromycin (15μg), metronidazole (10μg), and penicillin-g (10μg). Selected farmers who kept animals and drug shop owners were interviewed using a structured questionnaire in the kobo collect application to assess the associated predisposing factors of AMR. The collected data were analyzed using STATA. Bacterial isolation was performed on all fecal samples. From these, antimicrobial sensitivity tests were carried out on 119 viable E. coli isolates (62 (52.10%) were of animal origin while 57(47.9%) were human fecal samples). Overall, 96.98% of the E. coli isolates had developed resistance against at least one antimicrobial agent used in this study. Probably due to the high level of abuse of antimicrobial drugs among farmers. Generally, ciprofloxacin and gentamycin, were highly effective against E. coli isolates from both cattle and humans, whereas the isolates were resistant (100%) against vancomycin and metronidazole. Therefore, vancomycin and Metronidazole are not effective against E. coli isolates as shown by the 100% resistance to both drugs in both humans and cattle. I would recommend the use of ciprofloxacin and gentamicin as these had a high susceptibility. Rational use of antimicrobial products by all stakeholders should be practiced.