Isolation rates and antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of bovine mastitis pathogens in peri-urban area of Nairobi, Kabete, Kenya

A retrospective study was carried out to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial sensitivity to commonly occurring bovine mastitis pathogens in the peri-urban area of Nairobi between 1994 and 2004. Samples were mainly drawn from the area covered by the ambulatory services of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, Veterinary Clinic in Kabete, Nairobi.A total of 888 isolates were studied from bacterial cultures obtained from the bovine samples collected at the clinic. The most common microbial isolates were Streptococcus species (20.6%), Staphylococcus species (20.1%), Escherichia coli (16.8%), Klebsiella species (15.4%), Actinomyces (13.9%) and Pseudomonas species (8.3%). The study showed that sensitivity to antimicrobial agents was highest for gentamycin and kanamycin while it was moderate to low for penicillin, ampicillin, tetracycline, streptomycin, amoxicillin and penicillin-dihydrostreptomycin. The results of the study however did not show any clear trend in sensitivity to antimicrobial agents over the 11-years period.