Abstract

Backyard poultry rearing is becoming more and more popular in small households both in rural and urban Kerala with women being the stakeholders, without much capital investment on it. However, disease problems are the major hindrance for the small scale farmers. Bacterial diseases are more common and management of it is often a problem for the farmers. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has also started surfacing in this sector. A study was conducted on heart blood samples collected from 118 post-mortem cases of poultry diseases presented at SIAD, Palode. Isolation, identification and antibiogram were done on each sample. 101 cases were of fowl and 17 of duck. 52 isolates were obtained from fowls and 12 from duck. Escherichia coli was the predominant isolate obtained from all cases of fowls (46%) whereas Pasteurella spp was the major isolate obtained from duck. Klebsiella spp, Pseudomonas spp, Riemerella spp, Streptococcus spp and Staphylococcus spp were the other major isolates obtained. Ceftriaxone was found sensitive for 90% of the isolates followed by Levofloxacin for 74% of the cases. Tetracycline and Amoxicillin was found resistant for around 70% of the isolates. Sulpha TMP along with Ceftriaxone was found sensitive for Pasteurella spp and Riemerella spp.  Multidrug resistance was noticed among 3% of the isolates of which Klebsiella spp isolates was showing maximum MDR.  We could conclude that hygienic practices in management and reduction of stress is important in prevention of bacterial diseases, meanwhile judicious selection and appropriate dosage of antibiotics is of utmost importance in control of AMR. This study intends to provide a lead in selection of antibiotics for treatment of bacterial diseases in poultry. However taking up similar studies at different parts of the state would give a clear picture of bacterial pathogens and AMR pattern of poultry diseases of Kerala.

Keywords : Isolation, Antibiogram, Poultry diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance