Abstract

 Twenty-three Salmonella enterica isolated from domestic animals and lizards in Oyo and Ogun States of Nigeria between April 2005 and August 2007 were studied for infectious drug resistance and possible transfer using Escherichia coli 365K12 resistant to 200 µg/ml streptomycin as sensitive recipient. Nineteen (79%) of the isolates  were from poultry, 2 (8%) from cattle and 2 (8%) from lizards. Three of the poultry isolates 3/19 (15.8%) transferred R-factor for tetracycline, 10/19 (52.6%) for ampicillin,6/19 (31.6%) for kanamycin, 10/19 (52.6%) for neomycin and 2/19 (10.5%) for nalidixic acid, two of the cattle isolates, 2/2 (100%) transferred for tetracycline, ampicillin, kanamycin, neomycin, ½ (50%) for chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin. Two of the isolates, 2/2 (100%) from lizard transferred for tetracycline, ampicillin, kanamycin, and neomycin; 1/2 (50%) for chloramphenicol and nalidixic acid. The occurrence of a high level of infectious drug resistance amongSalmonella enterica studied that were transferable to sensitive recipient E. coli 365 K12 is of public health concern in terms of possible transfer of drug resistance from animal to human.

Key words: Salmonella enterica, infectious drug resistance, plasmid transfer, antimicrobials. 

Abbreviation

CHL, Chloramphenicol; STR, streptomycin; TET, tetracycline;MIC, minimum inhibitory concentration.