The emergence of antibiotic-resistant enteric bacteria, especially Salmonella typhi and Klebsiella pneumoniae in poultry has become a significant public health threat in Nigeria. This study was carried out to isolate S. typhi and K. pneumoniae from the faeces of poultry birds and local birds at selected locations in Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. Sixty-four strains of S. typhi and 77 strain of K. pneumoniae were recovered from 120 poultry birds while 100 strains of S. typhi and 90 strains of K. pneumoniae were isolated 150 local birds. All the isolates were screened for their antibiotic susceptibility to the following antibiotics using the agar disk diffusion technique: augmentin (25μg), cotrimoxazole (25μg), ofloxacin ((25μg), gentamicin (10μg), nitrofurantoin (200μg), nalidixic-acid (30μg), amoxicillin (25μg) and tetracycline (25μg). The frequency of antibiotic-resistance from poultry birds ranged between 87.5% and 98.4% for S. typhi and 53.2% to 100% for K. pneumoniae. In addition, the frequency of antibiotic resistance among the isolates from local birds ranged between 39% and 100% for S. typhi and 28% to 88% among K. pneumoniae. Thirty-four multiple antibiotic-resistance phenotypes were observed among the isolates from poultry while 45 multiple antibiotic resistance phenotypes were observed among the isolates recovered from local birds. This study recommends that there should be a strict regulatory regimen for the use of antibiotics in animals to minimise the emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
