Determination of Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Clostridium Perfringens Strains Isolated from Healthy and Diseased Ostriches (Struthio camelus)

Gastrointestinal diseases are considered the most prevalent and economically considerable diseases in the ostrich breeding industry, in which necrotic enteritis caused by C. perfringens induces high mortality, especially in ostrich chicks. Several antimicrobial agents are used to prevent enteric diseases, enhancing growth rate and increasing feed conversion ratio. This procedure results in a high prevalence of resistance among enteric bacteria with the possibility of a consequent emergence of antibiotic resistance in zoonotic enteropathogens. This study determined the susceptibility of C. perfringens strains isolated from the intestine and faeces of disease and healthy ostriches in southeast Iran to 8 antimicrobial agents. A total of 40 C. perfringens isolates were collected from several ostrich flocks and were tested using the broth microdilution method. The susceptibility of obtained isolates to antibiotics was as follows: ceftriaxone (80%), cefazolin (77.5%), florfenicol (72.5%), tetracycline (62.5%), penicillin (47.5%), sulfadiazine (20%), sulfadimidine (7.5%) and neomycin (7.5%). In conclusion, C. perfringens strains isolated from ostriches should be tested and monitored for antibacterial susceptibility patterns. The present study is the first to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of C. perfringens isolated from ostrich.