Abstract
The infectious disease known as Brucellosis is caused by Brucella species and remains a public health and economic concern worldwide. Few studies on this disease have been conducted in South Africa. The study's focus was to figure out phenotypic and genotype profiles of Brucella isolates. According to the department of health, from 1956 to 1959, there was an annual rise rate of between 0.1 and 0.3 per 100,000 people. This nationwide rise in incidence rate has been attributed to the unrestricted movement of cattle and the scarcity of vaccines for animals at risk. Disk diffusion and PCR were used to identify the resistance and virulence profiles of Brucella species from Eastern Cape, South Africa. One hundred and six (106) Brucella isolates were tested against tetracycline(30μg), penicillin G(10μg), cephalothin(30μg), erythromycin(15μg), doxycycline(30μg), trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole(25μg) and streptomycin(10μg) using disk diffusion. Resistance was observed for streptomycin (87%), penicillin G (52%), cephalothin (50%), trimethoprim/ sulfamethoxazole (26%) and tetracycline (23%). Most MAR isolates and those with a MAR index greater than 0.2 were found in cows (58.1%), sheep (25.8%), and goats (16.1%), respectively, in the current study. Tet(A), tet(B), sul1, sul2, BlaTem, dfrA1, strA- strB, and aadA1 gene primers were used in the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). There were no tet(A), tet(B), or strA-strB genes discovered. However, 8 out of 10 (80%), 7 out of 10 (70%),
19 out of 29 (67%), 18 out of 28 (62%) and 3 out of 7 (43%) isolates contained dfrA1, sul1, BlaTem, aadA1 and sul2 gene respectively. According to this study, 43% of Brucella isolates from livestock in Eastern Cape, South Africa were resistant to antibiotics normally used. In conclusion, the identification of virulence gene present in Brucella isolates is rarely done. Some Brucella species isolated from the Eastern Cape livestock are resistance to frequently used antibiotics for human brucellosis. As a result, antibiotic resistance has become a major public health concern around the world. The study confirmed the hypothesis, Fortunately, antibiotic resistance has seldom been reported in brucellosis and up to now all strains, including B. melitensis are susceptible to aminoglycoside and antibiotics of the tetracycline and rifampicin class. TetA and tetB gene were not present, Brucella showed no resistance characteristics towards tetracycline antibiotic. The information provided can be utilized to improve therapy protocols.
Key Words
Antibiotics, Brucellosis, Multi Antibiotic Resistant Index (MARI), Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), Brucella, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR).