Molecular detection and antibiogram of staphylococcus aureus in rabbit, rabbit handler and rabbitry in Terengganu, Malaysia

Mohd Faizal, Ghazali and Noor Muzamil, Mohamad and Siti Mariam, Zainal Ariffin (2021) Molecular detection and antibiogram of staphylococcus aureus in rabbit, rabbit handler and rabbitry in Terengganu, Malaysia. In: 2nd International Conference on Agriculture, Animal Sciences & Food Technology, 02-03 Mac 2021, UniSZA, Terengganu.

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Abstract

Infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been a growing problem in human medicine since the 1960s, and more recently with the appearance of livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) in veterinary and livestock. Past study has reported the presence of LA-MRSA in rabbits. However, studies that focus on antimicrobial resistance issues in rabbit is still relatively scarce as compared to other species of animals. The objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of S. aureus and MRSA in rabbits, farm handlers and living environment of rabbits in Terengganu. Swabs samples from 183 rabbits, 45 rabbit farm handlers and the rabbitry were collected from 16 different rabbit farms in Terengganu. Screening of bacteria and isolation of suspected S. aureus in the swab samples were done using routine microbiological tests. The identity of the bacteria isolates was confirmed using PCR where specific designed primers were used to detect the presence of nuc gene of S.aureus (278bp) and mecA gene (533bp) of MRSA. S.aureus isolates were also tested for their susceptibility toward the antimicrobial drugs using Kirby-Bauer disk. In this study, S. aureus were found in 19% of rabbits, 26.7% of rabbit handlers and 8.8% of swabs from rabbitry. However, MRSA (0%) were not detected from the isolated S. aureus. Antibiotic susceptibility test revealed that S. aureus from rabbit show low level of resistance (<20%) against 14 different antibiotics. Meanwhile, S. aureus from rabbit handlers were highly resistance against penicillin (86%), oxacillin (64%) and amoxicillin (50%). The antibiogram developed are valuable to provide the latest antibiotic therapeutic options to veterinarian and clinician to treat S. aureus infections. These finding suggests the emergence of antibiotic resistant S. aureus in the rabbit farms settings. Therefore, responsible and regulated usage of antibiotics needs to be practised to delay and prevent further emergence of antimicrobial resistance.

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