Identification and antibiotic susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolated from chicken samples collected from wet markets in Dhaka city

Abstract

Pathogenic Escherichia coli can be found in the intestine and feces of the chickens. Even though most E. coli strains are not harmful, there are some deadly E. coli strains, which cause food-borne diseases in humans. Moreover, the recent increase in antibiotic resistant E. coli is becoming a huge threat to the public health. The aim of this project is to identify and determine the pathogenicity of E. coli and determine antimicrobial susceptibility of E. coli. From the 8 chickens collected from 8 randomly selected wet markets in Dhaka city, a total of 32 samples (24 meat samples and 8 cloacal swab samples) were taken. Then the isolation of E. coli was done on MacConkey agar, Sorbitol MacConkey agar, and Nutrient agar medium. Finally, E. coli was detected through Polymerase Chain Reaction. Furthermore, the antimicrobial susceptibility test showed these isolates were highly resistant to Amoxicillin (95.93%), followed by Ciprofloxacin (83.73%), and least resistant to Meropenem (0.81%). This extensive research is crucial to understand the epidemiology of the disease outbreaks and emergence of antibiotic resistance.