Disinfectants are regularly used for cleansing poultry slaughterhouses to control microorganisms. However, the microorganisms such as bacteria are developing resistance to disinfectant(s) and complicate control of bacterial infections. The aim of this study was, therefore, to determine disinfectant susceptibility/resistance patterns manifested by bacteria (to commonly used disinfectants), which were isolated from intestines of slaughtered indigenous chickens in Nairobi, Kenya. The method used was agar well diffusion, and the six disinfectants (their active ingredients are in brackets) tested were as follows: Kupacide^® (glutaraldehyde; benzalkonium chloride); TH4+^® (didecyl dimethyl ammonium HCl; dioctyl dimethyl ammonium HCl; octyl decyldimethyl ammonium HCl; alkyl dimethyl ammonium HCl; and glutaraldehyde); Noro cleanse^® (glutaraldehyde; coco-benzyl-dimethyl-ammonium chloride); Dettol^® (chloroxylenol); Savlon^® (chlorhexidine gluconate; cetrimide; and N-propylalcohol); and Jik^® (sodium hypochlorite). At recommended user concentration by the manufacturer, isolates showed various resistance to the respective disinfectants. E. coli isolates were resistant to five of the tested disinfectants (Jik^®, TH4+^®, Noro cleanse^®, Dettol^®, and Kupacide^®); however, they were susceptible to Savlon^®; Staphylococcus isolates were resistant to disinfectants to Jik^® and TH4+^® and susceptible to the rest disinfectants; Streptococcus isolates were only resistant to Jik^® and susceptible to the remaining disinfectants. Some E. coli and Staphylococcus isolates showed resistance to more than one disinfectant. This study has demonstrated resistance of the bacterial isolates to various disinfectants at recommended user concentrations, although some of them were susceptible at higher concentration(s) and lower concentrations. This will interfere with the cleansing of the respective premises, resulting in contaminated products, which may end-up causing disease in the humans consuming them. Hence, it is recommended that one ascertains the efficacy of respective disinfectant by carrying out disinfectant susceptibility testing to know the effective ones and the appropriate concentration to use.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global problem that results in high morbidity and mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Inappropriate use of antimicrobials is a major driver of AMR. This study aimed to evaluate the rate and quality of antimicrobial prescription and use at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), a tertiary-referral teaching hospital. Methodology: A point prevalence survey (PPS) of antimicrobial prescription was conducted using the Global PPS tool, including a healthcare-acquired infection (HAI) module. Results: On the day of the PPS, 39.3% (145/369) of inpatients were prescribed at least one antimicrobial. Out of the 259 prescribed antimicrobials, 232 (89.6%) were antibacterials, of which 151 (65.1%) belonged to the watch group of the WHO AWaRe classification. The top three antibiotics prescribed were cefotaxime (87; 37.5%), parenteral metronidazole (31; 13.4%), and meropenem (23; 9.9%). Stop or review dates for the prescribed antimicrobials were documented in 27/259 prescriptions (10.4%). Surgical prophylaxis (SP) was prescribed for longer than one day in 83.3% of 61 patients. Samples for culture were sent for 27.1% (63/232) of all the patients prescribed antibiotics. Conclusion: This PPS demonstrates multiple indicators of the poor use of antimicrobials, including the high prevalence usage of watch antibiotics and prolonged surgical prophylaxis and other poor-quality indicators. Thus, there is an urgent need for intervention to improve antimicrobial stewardship.

Food borne diseases are one of the major human disease conditions worldwide. Most of them are of bacterial origin and chickens are a major source of such bacteria; they are consumed at high rate worldwide and tend to harbor the zoonotic bacteria without showing signs of illness. Running rain water tends to increase environmental contamination, since it carries various substances from one area to another; this results in village-indigenous chickens picking more bacteria from the environment as they roam/scavenge around for food. Thus, after the rain, the chickens intestinal contents may contain more bacteria quantity-wise and type-wise. This study was carried-out to determine whether that was the case after heavy rains of 2018.120 intestine samples were collected from indigenous chickens from three slaughterhouses in Nairobi for bacterial quantification using the Miles and Misra technique; bacterial isolation and identification were carried out using standard bacteriological procedures. Intestines from the slaughterhouses had different mean bacterial counts: Kangemi had the highest (1.3×10¹² colony-forming units per ml), followed by Burma (5.6×10¹¹), then Kariokor (4.7×10¹¹). E. coli was the most isolated at 85.8, followed by genera Staphylococcus (55), Streptococcus (43.3), Bacillus (41.66), Listeria (38.3), Proteus (24.16), Klebsiella (7.5), Campylobacter (2.5), Pseudomonas (6), and Streptobacillus (0.83). The study showed that the indigenous chickens carry a variety of bacteria in types and numbers, some of them being zoonotic. Apart from picking more bacteria as a result of environmental contamination during rainy season, the weather and bird-handling further stress the birds, thus contributing to higher bacterial multiplication and higher bacterial carriage. If slaughter is not done right, these intestinal bacteria can easily cause contamination of respective chicken meat; thus, if pathogenic, it can cause food poisoning to consumers of the meat. Therefore, it is recommended that precaution be taken while slaughtering chickens for consumption. In addition, where possible, free-range indigenous chickens be confined during rainy seasons to reduce their exposure to contaminated environment.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global threat associated with high morbidity and mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Inappropriate use of antimicrobials is one of the major drivers of the AMR pandemic. This study aims to evaluate the rate and quality of antimicrobial prescription and use at the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, a tertiary referral and teaching hospital. A point prevalence survey (PPS) of antimicrobial prescription was conducted using the Global PPS tool, including the healthcare-acquired infections (HAI)-module. On the day of PPS, 39.3% (145/369) of the patients were prescribed at least one antimicrobial. Out of 259 prescribed antimicrobials, 232 (89.6%) were antibacterials of which 151 (65.1%) belonged to the Watch-group of the WHO AWaRe classification. Top three antibiotics prescribed were cefotaxime (87; 37.5%), parenteral metronidazole (31; 13.4%); and meropenem (23; 9.9%). Stop/review of the prescribed antimicrobials was documented in 27/259 prescriptions (10.4%). Surgical prophylaxis (SP) was prescribed for more than one day in 83.3% of 61. Samples for culture were sent for 27.1% (63/232) of all prescribed antibiotics. This PPS showed a high usage of Watch antibiotics, prolonged surgical prophylaxis and other poor-quality indicators. Therefore, there is an urgent need for antimicrobial stewardship interventions.