Monitoring of Antimicrobial Resistance in diagnostic Veterinary laboratory in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global one health issue threatening our ability to treat bacterial infections in humans and animals. Surveillance of AMR is important in order to estimate the size of the problem, to identify targets for measures and to evaluate the effect of implemented measures. The study was conducted to determine how microbiological samples were collected, results interpreted and the number of samples collected for bacterial culture and sensitivity testing; to identify bacteria frequently isolated from milk and avian samples; and to determine the trend of samples submitted for bacterial culture, sensitivity testing and AMR prevalence. A retrospective study was conducted to collect AMR data by extracting information from laboratory logbooks and laboratory information system from 2010-2017. About 90% of samples were submitted by farmers, and then registered into laboratory registration systems at the reception. A total of 4157 samples were collected for bacterial culture, which included 3571 milk samples collected from cows, 555 samples obtained from live or dead chicken, and 31 samples collected from other animal species. Four hundred and thirty (430) samples requested bacterial culture and sensitivity testing, of which 346 (80.5%) were from cow milk samples, 53 (12.3%) from avian samples, and 31 (7.2%) from other animal species. The common bacterial isolates were Micrococcus, E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Enterobacter, and Bacillus species. The use of diagnostics and detection of drug susceptibility is important to support rational use of antibiotics and tracking of AMR.