Staphylococcus aureus is found as commensal organism in the livestock, and they also cause opportunistic infections. They also possess various mechanisms and genes conferring them with antimicrobial resistance. The carriage of such antimicrobial resistant organisms by healthy animals poses threat to both the animal production and public health aspects. In the present study a total of 90 samples from apparently healthy sheep and their farm environment were collected. The samples consisted of skin swabs (n=30), nasal swabs (n=20), vaginal swabs (n=20) and farm environmental samples (n=20). The overall prevalence of S. aureus was found to be 18.8% (n=17), with the highest prevalence in skin samples. The isolates were subjected to culture sensitivity test against 17 antibiotics. The antibiogram revealed highest resistance to penicillin-G (88%), ampicillin (53%), tetracycline (47%), cefoxitin (29%) and azithromycin (29%). The isolates showed susceptibility to co-trimoxazole (94%), amikacin (82%), chloramphenicol (82%), gentamicin (76%) and gatifloxacin (76%). Out of the 17 isolates, 14 were multi-drug resistant. Such studies on prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of organisms are needed to understand the epidemiology and mechanisms of resistance. They also prove useful in formulating standard operating procedures for antimicrobial usage.

Highlights

• The prevalence of S. aureus was found to be 18.8% from non-pathological samples of sheep.
• The isolates showed resistance to various antibiotics and 14 out of 17 isolates were multi-drug resistant.