Vet World   Vol.14   October-2021  Article-32

Investigation of Clostridium perfringens in small-scale commercial broiler flocks in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh

Background and Aim: Necrotic enteritis (NE) is one of the most prevalent diseases in broiler poultry caused by Clostridium perfringens connected with significant economic losses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh to assess the prevalence of C. perfringens through toxinotyping molecular assay and confirm the risk factors for NE, including antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) status of the isolates.

Materials and Methods: We included 40 small-scale commercial broiler farms randomly selected from two subdistricts of Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. As an individual sample, 240 cloacal swabs, and as a pooled sample, 40 drinking water, 40 workers' hand washing, 40 litter swab, and 40 feed samples were collected and evaluated by culture, biochemical, and molecular assays. A pretested semi-structured interview questionnaire was employed to capture flock-level data on risk factors from the farm owners. The flock-level data on risk factors were assessed through univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses with p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Overall flock-level prevalence of C. perfringens was estimated to be 10.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.5- 13.6%). Litter swab (pooled) was found to be highly contaminated with C. perfringens (25.0%, 95% CI: 12.7-41.2%) followed by the cloacal swab (10.4%, 95% CI: 6.9-15.0%) and feed sample (5.0%, 95% CI: 0.6-16.9%). History of coccidia infection (Adjusted odds ratio =33.01, 95% CI: 2.14-507.59, p=0.01) was significantly associated with flock-level C. perfringens infection status. In this study, 78.1% isolates were found as multidrug-resistant as they demonstrated resistance to 3-5 antimicrobial agents.

Conclusion: Evidence-based control options need to be taken through the uses of prebiotics and probiotics, biosecurity, and hygienic measurement, including control of coccidia infection, is needed to lessen the NE infection and AMR related to this pathogen in small-scale commercial broiler poultry. Keywords: antimicrobial-resistant, Bangladesh, broiler, Clostridium perfringens, necrotic enteritis, prevalence.

Keywords: antimicrobial-resistant, Bangladesh, broiler, Clostridium perfringens, necrotic enteritis, prevalence.

How to cite this article: Tresha AO, Arif M, Islam SS, Haque AKMZ, Rahman MT, Kabir SML (2021) Investigation of Clostridium perfringens in small-scale commercial broiler flocks in Mymensingh district of Bangladesh, Veterinary World, 14(10): 2809-2816.

Received: 12-06-2021  Accepted: 29-09-2021     Published online: 29-10-2021

Corresponding author: S. M. Lutful Kabir   E-mail: lkabir79@bau.edu.bd

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.2809-2816

Copyright: Tresha, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.