Optimal treatment and prudent use of antimicrobials for pigs is imperative to secure animal health and mostly prevent the development of critical resistance which can be transmitted to humans. An important step in this one-health context is to monitor resistance patterns of important animal pathogens. The aim of the study was to investigate the antibiotic resistance patterns of Escherichia coli strains in the intestinal flora of pigs in Lome, Togo. Thus 41 E. Coli strains were isolated from 50 non duplicate samples of pig’s faeces collected in various Pig’s casing in Lome. Disk diffusion antimicrobial susceptibility testing against a panel of antibiotics was carried out for the isolates. Susceptibility was interpreted using clinical breakpoints. Various resistance patterns were obtained. Both imipenem and fosfomycin were 100% sensitive; ampicillin, ofloxacin and nalidixic acid were the top three least active molecules on the isolated E. coli. The mean resistance rates were 10.8% for cephalosporins, 28% for penicillins, and 29.6% for other antibiotics. A total of 18 multidrug-resistant strains were found (43.9%). The resistance phenotypes found were: ESBL (4.9%), Low level (14.6%) and high level (9.8%) penicillinase, Low level (7.3%) and high level cephalosporinase (2.4%). With the presence of these critical resistant phenotypes, continuous surveillance of resistance patterns in pig pathogenic bacteria is urgent.

Keywords: Escherichia coli, Resistance, Antibiotic, Pig, Lome, Togo