Evaluation of Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Escherichia Coli and Salmonella Species Isolated from Cloaca of Indigenous Chickens in Live-bird Markets in Marodi Jeh Region, Somalia

Poultry is an important source of protein globally, today, but Escherichia coli (E. coli)and Salmonella speciescontinue to be food-borne pathogens and contribute to the growing resistance to the antimicrobial agents. There is limited information on these pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern in Maroodi Jeh region, Somaliland. Therefore, this study was designed to isolate, characterize and evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of E. coli and Salmonella species from indigenous chickens in live-bird markets in the Marodi Jeh region, Somaliland. In a cross-sectional study, a total of 384 cloaca swab samples were collected from Chickens of both sexes, from two live-bird markets (Waheen and Xisbi), and were grouped into growers and adults. The samples were screened using cultural, biochemical, and Gram staining techniques to isolate and identify E. coli and Salmonella species. The antimicrobial sensitivity testing was conducted on all the positive isolates using disk diffusion method. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square at p < 0.05. The prevalence of E. coli was 19.5%, while that of Salmonella species was 8.9%. E. coli and Salmonella specieswere more frequently isolated from adults (68%, 70.6%), females (72%, 58.8%), and from the Waheen market (70.7%, 94.1%). Totally, 98.6% of the isolates showed resistance to different combinations of antibiotics. The highest resistance was recorded against chloramphenicol (66.6%), tetracycline (45.3%), gentamycin (20%), and ampicillin (17.3%). E. coli isolates were sensitive to one antibiotic (44%) or between two to four antibiotics (54.7%), while Salmonella isolates, were sensitive to one antibiotic (35.3%) or between two to four antibiotics (64.7%). In conclusion, the present study showed a higher colonization rate of E. coli than Salmonella species in the cloaca of chickens with most of the isolates being resistant to multiple antibiotics.