Identification of predominant pathogenic bacteria isolated from respiratory manifested small ruminants in western north Egypt with regard to their susceptibility to antibiotics

Respiratory illnesses continue to be a persistent issue threatens small ruminants as sheep and goat flocks which constitute an important section of the livestock economy in Egypt. The current study have conducted survey among a total of 432 acquiring respiratory manifested sheep (n≈ 380) and goat (n≈ 85) flocks scattered in Western North regions in Egypt during September 2020 to June 2021. Bacterial screening was proceeding through classical cultivation and biochemical identification as well as screening of their antibiogram.  The bacterial isolation revealed that the most prevalent pathogen was Klebsiella pneumoniae from 123 cases (27.15%), followed by Mannheimia haemolytica 108 (23.84%), Escherichia coli 75(16.5%); Staphylococcus spp. 36 (7.9%) and Streptococcus spp. 14(3.1%). The sensitivity to various antimicrobial agents was tested and demonstrated multi-drug resistant. In conclusion, the study supported the concept of the multi-bacterial etiology of the respiratory infections among sheep and goat flocks. There were high incidences of multidrug resistance behavior of the bacterial isolates which may constitute a public health importance.