Antibiotic Resistance Patterns of Escherichia coli Isolates in Broiler Chickens at Slaughterhouse and Retails

This study aims to identify the antibiotic resistance pattern of Escherichia coli in the broiler food chain at poultry slaughterhouses and outlets. The sampling method used purposive sampling. Each of the 30 cecum and carcass samples was obtained from a Poultry Slaughterhouse, and 40 samples from 1 retail (consisting of 5 outlets), which received supplies from the same Poultry Slaughterhouse, were isolated and identified as E. coli. The results showed that 57 isolates were positively identified as E. coli, and the sensitivity was tested for the Antibiotic Susceptibility Test using the disc diffusion method. Statistical analysis using the Chi-Square method and Fisher's Exact Test (p-value=0.01) showed a pattern of sensitivity of Ciprofloxacin (p=0.89), Colistin (p=0.07), Sulfamethoxazole (p=1.00), Chloramphenicol (p=0.67) and Meropenem (p= <0.001). The highest resistance was found in frozen carcass isolates at the outlet to Colistin (69%), and E. coli isolates from cecum at the poultry slaughterhouse showed resistance to Meropenem (67%). Furthermore, it was discovered that 35% of isolates were only resistant to one type of antibiotic. Resistance bacteria may spread and threaten consumers' health while they get carried from farm to retail.