Antibiotic-resistant bacteria in agricultural soil appraised against non-agricultural soil: case in one of the most agriculturally-active settings in West Cameroon

BackgroundAgriculture is also concerned by the problem of bacterial resistance because agricultural soils are reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes. ObjectiveAn investigation about ARB was carried out on agricultural farms soils in Mangoum, a neighborhood of the Foumbot municipality (Noun division, West Cameroon). MethodIt was conducted as a cross-sectional descriptive study with a total of 46 soil specimens collected from plant farms and a control plot. Isolation, enumeration and antibiotic susceptibility tests were performed according to standard protocols. ResultsThe bacteria recovered basically included Aeromonas spp., Chryseobacterium spp., Pseudomonas spp., Staphylococcus spp., and Gram-positive rods. Their loads in the farmland soils were significantly lower than in the control plot. Overall, susceptibility tests performed with 169 bacterial colony morphotypes revealed high resistant rates. Also, most of isolates expressed multidrug-resistance to the antibiotics used, while highest resistance rates were recorded with isolates form agricultural plots. Levofloxacin, Imipenem, Gentamicin and Ciprofloxacin were globally the most effective. ConclusionAgreeing with previous surveys conducted on animal farms with similar environmental conditions, these findings could provide support to sustainable orientation of policies regarding control of antimicrobial resistance in Cameroon from the One Health perspective.