Background: Multidrug-resistant pathogens are a significant cause of morbidity globally. The recent rise in resistant bacterial strains is largely attributed to the extensive use of antibiotics in human and animal treatment. In recent years, there has been a notable increase in drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae strains, posing a major challenge for clinicians worldwide. 
 
Methods: In the current study, 121 samples were obtained from bovine mastitis milk and faeces, dairy cattle farm premises, chicken cloacal swabs, poultry farm litter and water. The samples were processed for the isolation and identification of Klebsiella species. Klebsiella isolates were identified by cultural, morphological and biochemical characteristics and were subsequently confirmed by PCR assays that targeted species-specific genes. The isolates were subjected to in vitro antibiotic sensitivity test. The DNA from all the isolates was extracted and subjected to PCR to identify the presence of 10 different Antibiotic Resistance Genes (ARG) using published primers. The ARGs targeted were blaTEM, blaSHV, blaOXA, blaIMP, DHAM, MOXM, tetA, tetB, sul1 and aadA. 
 
Result: Out of 121 samples, twenty-six (21.4%) samples were identified as Klebsiella pnuemoniae isolates. The occurence of Klebsiella pnuemoniae in samples from different sources was- 3/33 (09%) from mastitis milk, 8/27 (29.6%) from faecal samples and 04/14 (28.5%) from environmental samples collected from dairy farms. Similarly, Klebsiella pnuemoniae prevalence was recorded to be 6/33 (18.1%) in cloacal swabs and 5/14 (35.7%) from environmental samples collected from poultry farms. On in vitro antibiotic sensitivity test, all the Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates were found to be resistant to penicillin, amoxicillin, cefuroxime and ampicillin/ sulbactam (100% each), followed by cefalexin (65.3%), streptomycin (53.8%), tetracycline (38.4%), imipenum and co-trimoxazole (34.6% each), ofloxacin (30.7%), norfloxacin (27%), ceftriaxone (23%), amikacin (15.38%) and gentamicin (11.5%). All the K. pneumoniae isolates were found to be Multi Drug Resistant (MDR). Out of 26 isolates, 25 (96%) were positive for Sul1, 22 (84.6%) for blaTEM, 19 (73%) for blaSHV, 19 (3%) for tetA, 16 (61.5%) for aadA, 10 (38.4%) for OXA, 9 (34.6%) for tetB and 2 (7.6%) for DHAM and MOXM each. None of the isolates harboured blaIMP gene.

Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) Klebsiella pnuemoniae Isolated from Different Sources