Antibiotic resistance has become a major public health concern around the world. This is exacerbated by the non-discovery of novel drugs, the development of resistance mechanisms in most of the clinical isolates of bacteria, as well as recurring infections, hindering disease treatment efficacy. In vitro data has shown that antibiotic combinations can be effective when microorganisms are resistant to individual drugs. Recently, advances in the direction of combination therapy for the treatment of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections have embraced antibiotic combinations and the use of nanoparticles conjugated with antibiotics. Nanoparticles (NPs) can penetrate the cellular membrane of disease-causing organisms and obstruct essential molecular pathways, showing unique antibacterial mechanisms. Combined with the optimal drugs, NPs have established synergy and may assist in regulating the general threat of emergent bacterial resistance. This review comprises a general overview of antibiotic combinations strategies for the treatment of microbial infections. The potential of antibiotic combinations with NPs as new entrants in the antimicrobial therapy domain is discussed.

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by various fungi that contaminate livestock feed, posing serious threats to animal health, productivity, and food safety. Although historical research has often examined individual mycotoxins in isolation, real-world conditions typically involve the simultaneous presence of multiple mycotoxins, resulting in additive or synergistic toxic effects that are often more severe than those observed with single toxin exposures. This review comprehensively synthesizes recent findings on multi-mycotoxin contamination in livestock feed, highlighting their physiological effects, mechanisms of action, and implications for regulatory frameworks. Multi-mycotoxin interactions exacerbate oxidative stress, immune suppression, impaired reproduction, and organ damage across species, leading to reduced growth performance, decreased milk and egg production, compromised carcass and wool quality, and increased mortality rates. A major concern is that current international regulatory standards mainly address individual mycotoxins, overlooking the compounded risks of co-occurrence. Global surveillance studies consistently reveal high prevalence rates of mycotoxin mixtures in feedstuffs, especially combinations involving DON, ZEN, AFB₁, FB₁, and OTA. Understanding these interactions and their underlying cellular mechanisms is critical for improving risk assessment models, formulating integrated mitigation strategies, and safeguarding both livestock productivity and human food security.

Coastal water resources are habitually exposed to indiscriminate anthropogenic pollution. However, due to their negative consequences to the public health, recreational waters require continuous monitoring for disease-causing organisms as a way of preventing ailments associated with swimming. As a result, the present study assessed the physicochemical parameters and microbial loads of water samples collected from six different sampling points on Kidd's Beach using standard analytical procedures. Generated data were analysed with One-way ANOVA and spearman correlation (at 95%). The physicochemical qualities varied as follows: pH (7.21-8.23), temperature (18.46-27.63 °C), turbidity (0-25.67 NTU), electrical conductivity (22723-62067 μS/cm), total dissolved solids (7662-31037 mg/L), and salinity (8.95-41.84 PSU). All these measured parameters were significantly different (P < 0.05) with respect to the sampling sites. Presumptive Enterococcus counts ranged from 64 - 168 CFU/100 mL of water samples. Out of 409 presumptive Enterococcus isolates obtained from the culture-based method, 67 were confirmed to be Enterococcus by PCR-techniques. From the 67 confirmed isolates, 19(E. faecalis) and 40(E. feacium) while 8(other species that were non-targeted). Findings from this study shown that Kidd's Beach water samples contain some pathogenic bacteria that pose high risk to the public health and make it to be unfit for recreational use when compared to DWAF and US EPA guidelines. Therefore, effort should be made to strictly control all activities contributing to the level of pollution in the marine environment.

Enterococci are regarded as a better indication of faecal pollution in freshwater and marine waters. Their levels in seawater are positively connected with swimming-related gastrointestinal disorders. This study used an Enterococcus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to characterize the isolates. Classes 1 and 2 integrons were examined for environmental Enterococcus isolates using a standard biological procedure. All strains were assessed against a panel of 12 antibiotics from various classes using disc diffusion methods. The microdilution method was used to work out the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) according to the CLSI guiding principles. The combination therapy of the resistant drugs was evaluated using a checkerboard assay and a time-dependent test for assessing their bactericidal or bacteriostatic activity. The gene diversity of the tested organisms was analyzed with the aid of Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) PCR. In total, 57 Enterococcus spp. environmental samples were recovered, in which Enterococcus faecalis (33.33%) and Enterococcus faecium (59.65%) were the dominant species. Resistance to linezolid, ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, gentamicin, vancomycin, rifampicin, and tetracycline was prevalent. Fifty (50) strains tested positive for class 1 integron, more frequent in Enterococcus faecium and Enterococcus faecalis isolates, with no gene cassette array discovered. A combination of gentamicin (MIC 4 µg/mL) with vancomycin (MIC 256 µg/mL) antibiotics against Enterococcus faecalis showed antibacterial activity. In contrast, the combination of ciprofloxacin (1 µg/mL) with Ampicillin (16 µg/mL) antibiotics against Enterococcus faecalis showed a bacteriostatic effect. The ERIC-PCR analysis pointed out that most of the assessed isolates have close genetic similarities.

Enterococci are a group of significant disease-causing bacteria, which have developed resistance to several conventionally used antibiotics. Of the 67 confirmed Enterococcus species from Kidd’s Beach, 40 (59.7%) were E. faecium, 19 (28.4%) were E. faecalis. The highest level of resistance was observed against rifampicin (83.6%) followed by erythromycin (64.2%), tetracycline (52.2%), linezolid (46.3%), tetracycline (46.3%), and vancomycin (32.8%). Ninety-six per cent of the Enterococcus spp. was found to be multi-drug resistant. MAR indices vary from 0.3 to 0.9. Two virulence determinants (ace and gelE) were detected and six resistance determinants were identified as follows: ermB (19%), tetM (30%), tetL (19%), gyrA (13%), ampC (1.5%) and Van C2/3 (4.5%). The presence of enterococci (E. faecium and E. faecalis) in Kidd’s Beach waters harbouring virulence genes that facilitate multiple antibiotic resistance signifies a possible health threat for beach goers.