Bacteria Isolated from the Oropharynxs of Apparently Healthy Chickens in Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

There are concerns that apparently healthy chickens may transmit potentially pathogenic pathogens that could threaten not only poultry industry, but also public health. This investigative study was carried out in Jos, Nigeria to determine the prevalent bacterial agents in the oropharynxs of apparently healthy chickens. Four hundred (400) oropharyngeal swabs were collected from 400 apparently healthy chickens for bacteriological analysis. Swab from each sample was cultured on 7% defibrinated sheep blood, Casein Sucrose Yeast (CSY) agar and MacConkey. Oropharyngeal swabs were cultured indirectly by inoculating into 5 ml of brain heart infusion broth (BHI), incubated at 37℃ for 24 h and then streaked unto Casein Sucrose Yeast (CSY) agar, MacConkey agar and Blood agar. Presumptive colonies of bacterial agents were subjected to conventional biochemical characterization. The result of biochemical test identified the following bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus 82 (20.5%), Escherichia coli 53 (13.3%), Klebsiella pneumonia 35 (8.8%) and Proteus species 26 (6.6%), Pasteurella multocida 5 (1.3%) among others. Staphylococcus aureus (20.5%) was the highest followed by Escherichia coli (13.3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (8.8%) and Pasteurella multocida (1.3%) was the least. It was concluded that the oropharynxs of apparently healthy chickens harbored a lot of bacterial agents which could cause infections when the immune system was compromised.