Waititu Kenneth Kariuki^{1, 2,}, Kimang’a Andrew Nyerere², Kariuki Samuel³, Obiero Jael Apondi^{2, 4}

Background: Antimicrobial resistance is widely acknowledged as a global health problem that has resulted in devastating emerging and re-emerging conditions which are difficult to manage due to limited or unavailable intervention options. It is deepened by the fact that genes encoding for antimicrobial resistance can be transferred horizontally by mobile genetic elements. Escherichia coli is primarily a gut microbial flora in warm-blooded animals including non-human primates that can acquire any of these gene elements from other resistant bacterial strains resulting in their transmission between humans and animals. This study aimed to determine antimicrobial susceptibility of E. coli against commonly used agents as well as production of extended spectrum β-lactamases. Methods: E. coli was isolated from stool samples that were collected from sixty-two captive and sixty-two wild baboons using culture-based methods. The isolates were subjected to fourteen antimicrobial agents followed by characterization of three putative resistance genes; bla_CTX-M, bla_TEM and bla_SHV using polymerase chain reaction. Results: E. coli isolates from both groups of animals were resistant to all antimicrobial agents except Ciprofloxacin. Prevalence of Ampicillin resistance was high in E. coli isolated from both captive (32.3%) and wild (35.5%) baboons. There was higher prevalence of ESBLs in E. coli isolated from wild (17.7%) than captive (14.5%) baboons. Conclusion: As reservoirs of ESBL producing E. coli type, baboons could play a potential role in antibiotic resistant plasmids transmission to the environment and other animals including humans.

Escherichia coli, ESBL, antimicrobial, wild, captive