Abstract

The aim of this study was to isolate avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) strains from poultry feeds for assessing their susceptibility patterns to antibiotic agents. From November 2018 to March 2019, one hundred eighteen poultry feeds samples were collected in farms of Abidjan District and E. coli strains were isolated on TBX (Tryptone Bile Glucuronic) agar medium, followed by biochemical identification and APEC virulence genes detection via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Among these samples, 44 (37.29%) were positive to E. coli. Municipalities of Anyama, Bingerville and Port-Bouët provided most contaminated poultry feeds with respectively 100, 54.04 and 30.76% of prevalence rate. Moreover, increased serum survival (iss) and iron-acquisition system (iucD) genes were respectively detected in 10 (15.87%) and 15 (23.81%) tested strains while seven E. coli isolates were positive for both genes. Antibiotic susceptibility tests by the disk diffusion method in Mueller-Hinton agar medium showed high resistance level to tetracycline (100%) and nalidixic acid (61.90%) while moderate resistance rates was observed with amoxicillin +clavulanic acid (28.57%) and ciprofloxacin (16%). Moreover, all the tested strains were susceptible to gentamicin. This study indicate the necessity to control the quality of poultry feeds in Côte d'Ivoire and especially to research alternative methods to reduce extensive antibiotics use in this sector in Côte d'Ivoire.

Key words: Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), poultry feeds, antibiotic, poultry farm, Côte d'Ivoire.