Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance from bacterial culture and susceptibility records from horse samples in South Africa

A total of 1505 bacterial isolates were included in this study comprising isolates from 2007 (n = 447); 2008 (n = 285); 2009 (n = 258); 2010 (n = 102); 2011 (n = 89); 2012 (n = 248) and 2013 (n = 76). For this study, multiple drug resistance was above 50% for all the isolates. The Cochran-Armitage test showed evidence of a significantly increasing trend in prevalence of resistance to several antimicrobial agents, including amikacin (E. coli, Staphylococcus), AMX/AMP (Corynebacteria, Lactobacillus and Salmonella), chloramphenicol (Enterococcus, E. coli, Pseudomonas, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and Salmonella), enrofloxacin (E. coli, Staphylococcus, Salmonella and Pseudomonas) and gentamicin (Salmonella, Staphylococcus). The data obtained from this study is relevant to equine practitioners, as it helps enhance the body of veterinary knowledge pertaining to antimicrobial resistance in common equine pathogens in South Africa.