Occurrence of Multi-Drug Resistant <i>Listeria species</i>in Faecal Samples of Poultry Chickens in Rural Farms in Lagos State, Nigeria

Background: Listeriosis is a common zoonotic disease caused by a foodborne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes. Poultry meat and products have been established as vehicles of transmission of pathogenic Listeria strains to humans. This study evaluates the occurrence of Listeria species in faeces of poultry chicken in Lagos. Methods: One hundred and fourteen pooled fresh faecal samples from cage-reared broiler chickens were collected from 12 farms in three rural areas in Lagos State from May to August 2019. All samples were analysed for Listeria species detection according to ISO11290-1 standard and confirmed using PCR assay. Susceptibility testing was performed using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique. Results: Twenty-eight (24.6%) Listeria species were detected from 114 faecal samples. The isolated Listeria species were L. monocytogenes 8 (7.0%), L. ivanovii 9 (7.9%), L. grayi 7 (6.1%) and L. innocua 4 (3.5%). There was no significant difference in the frequency of occurrence of Listeria species across the different locations (X2 = 4.98, p = 0.08). The listeria species were susceptible to Augmentin (96.4%), vancomycin (85.7%) and co-trimoxazole (82.1%), but resistant to ceftazidime (100%), tetracycline (75.0%) and ciprofloxacin (71.4%). Conclusion: This study reveals high occurrence of multi-drug resistant Listeria species in faecal samples of poultry chickens in Lagos state which may be an important vector in the contamination of the environment and transmission of antibiotic resistant Listeria species to consumers.