Bacterial Communities of the Musca Domestica Housefly in Different Urban Habitats and their Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profiles

Abstract

Houseflies are a nuisance and can potentially transmit diseases to humans and animals due to their abundance and proximity to human habitats. Hence, this study aims to investigate the bacterial contaminations of house flies in different urban habitats and determine the resistance of these bacteria against various antibiotics. A total of 80 houseflies were collected from four different locations, namely the Bodija abattoir, household, poultry and piggery. The surface microbiota of the houseflies was identified using standard microbiological procedures at the genus level and subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility tests and extended-spectrum betalactamases (ESBL) screening. The results showed that there were more bacterial isolates from houseflies in abattoir than those from households, poultry and piggeries. The number of isolates included Proteus spp. (n = 30), Citrobacter spp. (n = 19), Enterobacter spp. (n = 9), Klebsiella spp. (n = 3), Salmonella spp. (n = 3), Aeromonas spp. (n = 3), and Edwardsiella spp. (n = 1). Antimicrobial susceptibility assay revealed that Pseudomonas spp., Salmonella spp., Edwardsiella spp., Aeromonas spp., Enterobacter spp. and Klebsiella spp. have relatively high resistance to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, trimethoprim, ertapenem, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefpodoxime and cefoxitin as compared to Citrobacter spp., and Proteus spp. (p < 0.05). The results of the ESBL screening showed that all the bacterial isolates were resistant to multiple antibiotics. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the most harmful bacteria are harboured by houseflies from abattoirs, and these organisms have the ability to spread diseases that are resistant to antibiotics. Specifically, the spread of houseflies poses a risk to public health since they may contribute to the environmental spread of infectious diseases.