Cockroaches (periplaneta americana and blattella germanica): reservoirs of multi drug resistant (MDR) bacteria in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State

Abstract

Bacteriological examination of external surfaces and internal guts of Periplaneta americana and Blattela germanica were carried out using standard method and antibiotics susceptibility profiles of the isolates were determined using disc diffusion methods . Of the 317 bacteria isolated from the external surfaces and internal guts of P. americana , 275 (86.8%) were Gram-negative bacilli, while 42 (13.2%) were Gram-positive bacteria. Of the 204 bacterial isolates from B. germanica, 175 (85.8%) were Gram negative, while 29 (14.2%) were Gram positive bacteria. The bacteria isolated were Salmonella spp, Shigella spp, Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase negative Staphylococcus spp, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae , Citrobacter freundii , Morganella morganii, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis, Enterobacter cloacae and Providencia spp. Among the Gram positive bacteria, only 75.8% S. aureus and 76.5% B. cereus were sensitive to Streptomycin and Gentamycin, while their resistance profiles to antibiotics in decreasing order were as follows: Chloramphenicol (41.7%), Amoxicillin (40.3%), Streptomycin (36.1%), Tetracycline (36.0%), Erythromycin (35.5%), Gentamicin (34.0%), Penicillin (34.6%), Cephalothin (27.8%), Sulfamethoxazole (23.4%), Ciprofloxacin (18.4%) and Levofloxacin (17.7%). Less than 50% of E. cloacae and Providencia spp were resistant to Streptomycin, while ˂ 40% of P. vulgaris, K. pneumoniae , and P. aeruginosa were resistant to Chloramphenicol . Of the 353 (67.8%) multi drug resistant bacteria, 121 (23.2%) were resistant to 3 antibiotics, 232 (65.7%) were resistant to 4-10 antibiotics. T h e antib i o tic resistant Salmonella spp. and P. mirabilis had Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) indexes ranging from 0.27 to 0.82. T hese findings suggest cockroaches in Uyo as potential vectors of medically important multiple drug-resistant bacteria.