The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and phenotypic identification of antimicrobial resistance of K. pneumoniae and K. oxytoca recovered from backyard broiler chickens and their human contacts. The serotypes and genotypes of antibiotic resistance genes of K. pneumoniae isolates were investigated. A total of 80 samples were collected from backyard broiler chickens that showed signs of illness, sneezing, coughing, and diarrhea. Twenty stool samples were collected from individuals who had been in contact simultaneously. In total, 19 Klebsiella species were isolated, 12 of which were from broiler chicken samples and seven from human stool samples. Recovery rates of K. pneumoniae were 11.3% ( n  = 9/80) and 15% ( n = 3/20) of broiler and human stool samples, respectively. K. oxytoca was detected in 3 of 80 (3.75%) broiler chicken and 4 of 20 (20%) human stool samples. Antimicrobial susceptibility showed that all 19 Klebsiella isolates were resistant to erythromycin and clindamycin (100%), followed by penicillin (94.7%) and ampicillin (84.3%). Within the 12 K. pneumoniae isolates, the most common serotype was K1. Antibiotic resistance gene profile of K. pneumoniae isolates was observed, with a high carrying rate of the macrolide gene ermB (91.7%), followed by the β-lactam genes bla _TEM (75%) and bla _CTX-M1 (66.7%). In conclusion, the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, K. pneumoniae and K. oxytoca in broiler backyard chickens and their human contacts is alarming, particularly for erythromycin and clindamycin. This underscores the need for alternatives like vaccination, probiotics, and better biosecurity to combat antimicrobial resistance.

Background: Coccidiosis is one of the most dangerous diseases infecting Japanese quails. This work was conducted to study the efficacy of immunization of Japanese quail against the challenge with different Eimeria species causing coccidiosis and to optimize the dose of live sporulated oocysts that give immunity without adverse effects. Methods: Dropping samples were collected from different Japanese quail pens of the Central Poultry Development Organization, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Isolation, identification, single oocyst isolation and propagation were done for each species. On the 2nd day of age, Japanese quails were divided into 10 groups and orally inoculated with low doses, 100 and 1000 live sporulated oocysts, of each isolated Eimeria species separately. Four weeks post-immunization, the quails were challenged with a high dose of the respective species. Immunization efficacy was assessed regarding clinical signs, mortality rate, weight gain, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio, oocysts output, lesion scores and hematological parameters. Result: All collected samples were Eimeria positive. Three Eimeria species were isolated and identified as E. bateri, E. uzura and E. tsunodai. Experimental results revealed that the immunized quails, either by 100 or 1000 oocysts of any isolated species, showed better results compared to the challenged, non-immunized controls. The 100-oocysts dose gave better results than those of 1000-oocysts dose without significant differences. These results indicated the effectiveness of immunization as an important tool in the management of Japanese quail coccidiosis.

Chicken intestinal microbiome naturally includes Escherichia coli. However, only a small subset, known as avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC), may be harmful and zoonotic to humans. The study primary goal was to examine E. coli isolates from poultry and humans, serotype them, and find genes that confer resistance to popular antibiotics as well as drug sensitivity. The study tested 160 meat and organ samples from chickens and ducks, along with 40 human stool samples, finding E. coli in 15 % of samples, with the highest rates in human stool (40 %) and lower rates in duck (11.7 %), chicken organs (3.3%) and their meat (12.5 %). Thirty tested E. coli showed high resistance to several antibiotics, especially erythromycin, but were more sensitive to colistin and fosfomycin, with many strains showing resistance to multiple drugs. The isolates were analysed for some antibiotic resistance genes of E. coli. Duck and chicken organ isolates were found to be positive to aadA1, sul1, tetA, and msr-1 genes. Whereas their meat possessed aac(3)Iv, aadA1, sul1, tetA, msr-1 and aac(6)Ib genes. Human isolates carried ereA, aadA1, tetA, sul1, msr-1, and aac(3)Iv genes. In conclusion, the detection of shared antimicrobial resistance genes among E. coli isolates from both poultry and human sources strongly suggests a potential zoonotic transmission pathway. This highlights the substantial public health importance of these findings, indicating that avian E. coli contributes not only to economic losses in poultry production but also to the increasing burden of multidrug-resistant infections in both animal and human populations.