The Pattern of Antimicrobial Use in Poultry Production and Its Public Health Implications in Aba and Umuahia Towns of Abia State, Nigeria

Aim: To investigate the type and dynamics of antimicrobial usage in Aba and Umuahia towns of Abia State Nigeria and the public health implications of their misuse.

Methodology: Structured questionnaires were administered to 33 and 41 poultry farmers in Aba, and Umuahia, respectively between April, 2014 and March, 2015. Data obtained were presented as percentages.

Results: Respondents made use of different antimicrobials in a reported 1305 drug applications. The usage of the drugs in their descending order was as follows: aminoglycosides- 27.1%, tetracycline – 23.2%, macrolides– 14.0%, polypeptides – 8.0%, quinolones – 7.3%, sulfonamides – 6.7%, chloramphenicol – 4.1%, nitrofurans – 2.5%. beta-lactams – 2.4%, Data showed that 75% of the total respondents were aware of drug withdrawal periods but 6.8% observed them while 13% of respondents were aware of banned drugs and 10.8% avoided their usage. Generally, antimicrobials were used for prophylaxis and chemotherapy and not as growth promoters. A 4.1% and 2.5% usage of the banned drugs chloramphenicol and furaltadone respectively were recorded. Respondents with tertiary education constituted 78.3%; however, in the misuse of drugs, there was no observable difference between them and those with basic or no education. Respondents that consulted veterinarians in disease management were 55.8% of the total number while the rest relied on their experiences and personal knowledge.

Conclusion: There was a high level of antimicrobial misuse and non adherence to withdrawal periods. A significant number of the farmers still use banned antimicrobials. There may be lack of regulations guiding the use of these drugs and this has a lot of serious health implications as regards antimicrobial therapy in man and animals.