Antibiotic use and practices in commercial poultry laying hens in Ogun State Nigeria

Abstract

Poultry production contributes largely to the Nigerian economy. However, antibiotics misuse by poultry farmers has resulted in multidrug resistance and impeded efficiency of antibiotic treatments in the industry. The study was carried out to assess antibiotic usage in commercial poultry farms. A survey using a structured farm-manager questionnaire was conducted to obtain information on socioeconomic characteristics of the farm owners or managers, the types of antibiotics used, their frequency and purpose of use, the awareness of antibiotics usage and associated consequences, and farmers’ preferred channels of information on prudent antibiotic usage. The respondents’ level of education was university or equivalent (70.9%), high school (12.6%), or no formal education (13.6%). Antibiotics were primarily used for prophylaxis (> 60%) and therapeutics (< 15%). Gentamicin (76.7%) was the most used, followed by tetracycline (64.1%), enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin (57.3%), furazolidone (49.5%), streptomycin (46.6%), furaltadone (43.7%), chloramphenicol (41.7%), penicillin (25.2%), erythromycin (24.3%), and nalidixic acid (11.7%). About half of the farms used banned furazolidone and chloramphenicol. In total 82 (79.6%) farmers were aware that the use of random antibiotics in the treatment of improperly diagnosed diseases can lead to antibiotic resistance. However 73 (70.9%) were less aware that antibiotics misuse in animals poses a serious threat to humanhealth. Antibiotics were not prudently used by poultry producers, whose lack of awareness may contribute to the issue. It is anticipated that the results of this survey will assist in developing relevant policies toward controlling antibiotic use in poultry farms in Nigeria.