Abstract:
Abstract
Antibiotic residues in farm products are widely considered as a significant cause
of antibiotic resistance. However, no comprehensive work has been documented
to date on this issue in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study aimed to explore
residual antibiotics and resultant Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in farm
produces. A total of 1000 samples (300 meat samples, 300 milk samples and 400
eggs samples) were collected from different parts of the country and analyzed by
European Four Plate Techniques, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
(ELISA) and Antibiotic Residue E-Reader. Microbial loads in farm produce were
determined by conventional cultural methods. Antibiotic resistance of the isolates
was determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method using 10 most commonly
used antibiotics in veterinary medicine. As high as 37%, 59% and 75.70% of
meat, milk and egg samples, respectively were found qualitatively positive to
contain residual antibiotics. Quantitative analyses by ELISA showed that levels of
all antibiotics residue except penicillin) in farm produces were below maximum
residue limit (MRL). Salmonella, E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus were isolated
from most of the samples. Isolated pathogenic organisms had multi drug
resistance. The present study findings showed that food of farm origin in
Bangladesh contains residual antibiotics though most of them are below the
Maximum Residue Limit (MRL). However, still these residual antibiotics may
contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance in zoonotic organism that
may threaten food safety and public health. Present study revealed that
microorganisms are getting resistance against essential antibiotics that in turn
might compromise public health in great extent. Therefore, the study suggests to
ensure judicial use of antibiotics in all cases.
Keywords: antibiotic resistance, farm products, pathogenic bacterial strains
