8/6/2020: 

Poultry veterinarians are being confronted in the field with locomotion problems in broilers, attributed to infection with the Enterococcus cecorum bacteria. The results of treatment with amoxicillin (an antibiotic commonly used to combat this bacteria) are often disappointing. This is possibly due to a shift in susceptibility of E. cecorum to amoxicillin. Another possible cause is the presence of other pathogens. Research conducted by GD into the susceptibility of E. cecorum shows that since 2015, there have been no perceptible shifts that indicate that the bacteria is becoming less susceptible to the antibiotic amoxicillin. 

In necropsies on broilers where GD detected bacteria, Escherichia coli was isolated in 89 percent of the necropsies and Enterococcus cecorum in 29 percent. In 18 percent of the cases, GD detected both E. coli and E. cecorum. In contrast to E. cecorum, GD did find a shift in the susceptibility of E. coli to amoxicillin. GD established that over the past years, resistance of E. coli to amoxicillin increased from 35.7 percent in 2016 to 47 percent in 2019. Therefore, in practice, treatment with amoxicillin may be effective in combating E. cecorum, but less so in combating E. coli.

Read the whole article and more in our quarterly highlights report on poultry. With these reports we keep you updated about all the actualities, trends and developments in the monitoring of animal health.

Read more