Isolation of Staphylococcus spp. genera from broiler breeder flocks in East Azerbaijan Province of Iran: Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility

Staphylococcus spp. are Gram-positive cocci present on the skin and mucous membranes of humans and animals, and also as environmental contaminants. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococcus spp. genera from broiler breeder flocks in East Azerbaijan province of Iran. In this study, 14 broiler breeder flocks were studied for existence of Staphylococcus infections. In this flocks, initially detected by attention to the clinical symptoms such as laminitis, arthritis specially hock and foot joints and secondarily by necropsy. Then we selected 6 samples from each flock and these samples were cultured in media and antibiogram were carried out to determine the antibiotic susceptibility. The results of our study showed that of 14 farms, 12 farms (85.71%) were positive and 2 farms (14.29%) were negative from existence of the staphylococcal infections. In general, 84.7% of isolated species was susceptible to selected antibiotics, 5.6% was moderate and 9.7% was resistant. Results showed that outbreak of staphylococcal infections in poultry is high and because of its epidemiological importance, measures must be taken in this field to minimize the zoonotic disease transmissible from poultry to humans.