Antimicrobial Profiles of Pathogenic Enteric Bacteria Isolated from Commensal Rodents and Cockroaches from Morogoro Region in Tanzania: An Environmental Vehicle for Resistance Transmission to Human and Animals

Abstract

The increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming the global health concern and implicated to be a silence pandemic. It reduces the effectiveness of antimicrobials and threatening the health of human and animals. Rodents and cockroaches can play a significant role in the dissemination of resistance bacteria between the environment and humans. This study aimed at determining antimicrobial resistance profile of enteric bacteria isolated from cockroaches and house rats. The study was cross-sectional in design, the target population included house rats (Rattus rattus) and cockroaches (Periplaneta americana). A total of 114 house rats and 57 cockroaches were trapped. Cockroaches were manually trapped with surgical gloves and sealed in sterile plastic containers where by house rats were trapped with wire cages and transported to microbiology laboratory. Bacteria were isolated following standard Microbiological techniques and antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using Kirby Bauer diffusion technique. Data analysis was done using Graphpad Prism version 9. A total of 157 isolates of three targeted bacterial species were isolated from the gut of 114 house rats and 57 cockroaches. Among isolated bacteria only 83 were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility test. Out of the tested antimicrobials; Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxacin and Tetracycline showed the highest resistance. Moreover Multidrug-resistance (MDR) was also observed for 66.3%. Generally, these findings indicate that cockroaches and house rats play a significant role of harboring and disseminating pathogenic resistance bacteria, therefore necessary control measures need to be taken against the infestation of rodents and cockroaches around households so as to minimize transmission of pathogenic and resistant bacteria.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), Enteric bacteria, Rodents and Cockroaches, Multidrug-resistance (MDR)

DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/105-06

Publication date: January 31^st 2023