Nasal carriage of multi-drug resistance Staphylococcus aureus constitutes potential zoonosis from poultry farmers and butchers in slaughterhouses in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state, Nigeria

In Nigeria, poultry farming contributes significantly to the economy. Antibiotic use in poultry farming may promote the emergence of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a pathogen of human diseases that inhabit body cavities like the nostrils. This study assessed multi-drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in nasal carriage among poultry farmers and butchers in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. A total of 300 nasal swabs of poultry farmers and butchers in slaughters from New Layout Market and Josephine Elechi Poultry Farm were analyzed in the Microbiology Laboratory Unit of Ebonyi State University. Results showed that Staphylococcus aureus occurrence rates were 20% (poultry farm A), 17% (poultry farm B), 15% (poultry slaughter A), and 16% (poultry slaughter B). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalence rates were 11% (39 handlers) and 14% (39 butchers). Antibiotic sensitivity tests revealed high resistance to lincomycin (100%), clindamycin (100%), doxycycline (94.7%), vancomycin (89.5%), erythromycin (89.5%), trimethoprim (73.3%), and ciprofloxacin (60.5%) in poultry farm A. Poultry Farm B samples exhibited resistance to doxycycline (93%), trimethoprim (72%), vancomycin (86.1%), erythromycin (83.7%), lincomycin (100%), and piperacillin-tazobactam (95.4%). Poultry slaughter A samples displayed resistance to doxycycline (100%), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (80%), vancomycin (86.7%), erythromycin (93.3%), lincomycin (100%), and clindamycin (100%), while samples from poultry slaughter B showed resistance to erythromycin (100%), lincomycin (100%), clindamycin (100%), doxycycline (92.6%), vancomycin (88.9%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (74.1%). Multiple antibiotics resistance index (MARI) was 0.7 among poultry farmers and 0.6 among poultry butchers provokes great concern. Therefore, our findings emphasized the importance of judicious antibiotic use and preventive measures to control MRSA spread in the poultry industry.