Abstract:

Escherichia coli are zoonotic bacteria important to both public health and veterinary
carried out to identify the different diarrhoeal E. coli pathotypes
and determine their resistance to selected antibiotic drugs in comparison to the nonpathotypes.
A total of 288 faecal samples were collected from cattle and chickens. 24 STEC
and four EPEC were detected in cattle and chicken faeces respectively. The 24 STEC either
carried only six/ (8 %), stX2 (37.5 %), or both six/ and stX2 (42 %), stX2 and eaeA (12.5 %)
genes. Ten (41.7%) STEC were antibiotic resistant as follows: ciprofloxacin (12.5%),
chloramphenicol (8.3%), nalidixic acid (8.3%) and tetracycline (33.3%). Of the four EPEC,
only two were resistant, one to ciprofloxacin and the other to tetracycline. Comparison of
antimicrobial resistance (AMR) between E. coli pathotypes and non-pathotypes showed that
non-pathotypes were more resistant (79.8%) than the pathotypes (42.9%).
In conclusion, the fact that only EPEC was identified in healthy chickens and STEC in
healthy cattle suggests presence of host preference factors for these pathotypes. Presence of
such virulent pathotypes indicates a potential threat in the human food chain. Antibiotic
high risk of spreading antimicrobial resistant pathogenic E. coli to man, as well as indicating
improper use of antimicrobial drugs.
1 therefore recommend that; monitoring of hygiene in slaughter places and dairy processing
plants, and continued surveillance of emerging AMR among the pathogenic strains especially
in the healthy animals be carried out. Studies should be carried out to establish the
relationship between pathotype carriage and host preference, and the distribution of antibiotic
resistance genes among E. coli pathotypes of chickens, cattle and humans.
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resistant pathotypes were observed suggesting that healthy cattle & chicken faeces present a
medicine. This study wa