In most developing countries including Nigeria, indiscriminate use of antibiotics in food animals
could be incriminated as a critical factor leading to antimicrobial resistance. Intestines from
marketed chicken in fifteen market locations in Ibadan metropolis were randomly sampled to
examine for antibiotic resistant enteric bacteria to some commonly used antibiotics.
Bacteriological examination of intestinal samples was done using standard methods, followed by
in-vitro antibiotic sensitivity test by agar gel diffusion technique. The enteric bacteria,
Escherichia coli that were multi-drug resistant to different combinations of aminoglycosides,
cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones group of drugs were isolated. The intestines were also
noticed being scavenged on by animals and collected by some small hold farmers to feed their
animals. These commensal bacteria present in fresh marketed chicken may serve as reservoirs for
resistant genes that could potentially be transferred to pathogenic organisms in animals and
humans. Thus, the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in enteric bacteria isolated from marketed
chicken in Ibadan metropolis calls for veterinary and public health concern, and may suggest a
potential involvement in the occurrence of resistance food-borne pathogens in the study area.
Therefore, responsible therapeutic use of antibiotics against infections should follow appropriate
diagnosis and antibiotic susceptibility assessments.