Analysis of Retrospective Laboratory Data on the Burden of Bacterial Pathogens Isolated at the National Veterinary Research Institute Nigeria, 2018-2021.

Farm animals harbour bacterial pathogens, which are often viewed as important indicators of animal health and determinants of food safety. To better understand the prevalence and inform treatment, we audited laboratory data at the Bacteriology Laboratory of the NVRI from 2018-2021. Antibiotics were classified into seven basic classes: quinolones, tetracyclines, beta-lactams, aminoglycosides, macrolides, nitrofuran, and cephalosporins. Trends were analysed using a generalised linear model with a log link function for the Poisson distribution, comparing proportions between years with an offset to account for the variability in the total number of organisms per year. Avian (73.18%) samples were higher than any other sample. The major isolates identified were Escherichia. coli, Salmonella spp., Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus spp., Proteus spp., and Pseudomonas spp. We found that antimicrobial resistance to baseline antibiotics increased over the years. Of particular concern was the increasing resistance of Klebsiella spp. to cephalosporins, an important second-generation antibiotic. This finding underscores the importance of farm animals as reservoirs of pathogens harbouring antimicrobial resistance. Effective biosecurity, surveillance, and frugal use of antibiotics in farms are needed because the health of humans and animals is intricately connected.

Phosphine poisoning in free-range local chickens: a case report.

Phosphine poisoning is rarely reported in poultry, and its diagnosis is a great challenge for veterinary toxicologists and pathologists. A case of phosphine toxicosis in local, free range chickens is reported. Fourteen dead chickens (age ≥6 months old) were presented to the veterinary clinic for necropsy. The history revealed that the chickens were normally fed with guinea corn grains, but were suspected to have been fed boiled rice laced with poison. The clinical signs observed were ruffled feathers, somnolence, anorexia and high mortality. The disease ran a 2-day course with mortality pattern of four chickens the first day, six overnight and 14 the following day. Necropsy findings showed generalized vascular congestion and haemorrhage in the lungs and visceral organs, with the crop and gizzard filled with guinea corn and rice grains and greenish-yellow faecal material in the intestinal lumen. The presence of widespread congestion and petechial haemorrhages on visceral organs with the microscopic pulmonary congestion, and diffuse intraparabronchial presence of air sac macrophages, strongly suggested an acute toxic cause of death. Chemical tests on the crop contents of the dead chickens were positive for phosphine gas. This report will contribute to a better understanding of the clinical signs and lesions presented in cases of acute phosphide rodenticide exposure in domestic chickens, with a brief review of the forensic literature.