Antimicrobial use and resistance among commensal Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica in rural Jordan small ruminant herds

Small-scale small ruminants' farming is the major system in poor resources settings, yet their farming practices largely unknown. This paper assessed the husbandry practices, antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance of commensal Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica in sheep and goat pastoralists in rural Jordan. Fifty-two sheep and goat farmers were interviewed concerning disease incidence, antimicrobial use and knowledge of antimicrobials. E. coli and Salmonella were isolated from freshly passed fecal pellets by standard methods, confirmed by molecular methods, and tested for resistance against 12 antimicrobial by the disc diffusion method. Interview results indicated that a limited variety of antimicrobial drugs (oxytetracycline, penicillin and tylosin) are used by small ruminant farmers in Jordan. Moreover, farmers store the antimicrobials at improper temperatures and frequently obtain antimicrobials without prescription; veterinary consultation prior to antimicrobial use is infrequent. Higher antimicrobial resistance than most worldwide similar studies was exhibited by the isolates: 67.7% and 76.9% of the E. coli and Salmonella isolates, respectively, exhibited resistance to at least one antimicrobial and 33.3% and 38.5% exhibited resistance to at least three classes of antimicrobials. Among all bacterial isolates, the most frequent resistance was to tetracycline and cephalothin; resistance to ceftriaxone, gentamicin, and ciprofloxacin was rare. In general, E. coli exhibited higher resistance percentages than Salmonella for the tested antimicrobials. This study shows that upgrading the role of veterinarian and improving antimicrobial use practices at the grassroots level through educating farmers on proper handling and judicious use of antimicrobials are essential, as many antimicrobials are critically important for treating human infections.