ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology
The prevalence of antimicrobial resistance of bacterial strains from large-scale healthy chicken flocks in the Észak-Alföld region of Hungary
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, István utca 2, H-1078 Budapest, budapest, Hungary
- 2National Laboratory of Infectious Animal Diseases, Antimicrobial Resistance, Veterinary Public Health and Food Chain Safety, University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest, budapest, Hungary
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Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents one of the major public health challenges of the 21st century, with profound implications for both human and veterinary medicine. Isolates recovered from clinically healthy birds from food-producing animals play a critical role as reservoirs and potential vectors for resistance genes, underscoring the importance of continuous surveillance. This study aimed to evaluate the phenotypic resistance profiles of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli isolated from large-scale chicken flocks in the Észak-Alföld region of Hungary. A total of 24 flocks were sampled, and bacterial isolates were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the broth microdilution method. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were interpreted according to European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) and Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Extremely high (>70.0%) levels of resistance were detected against doxycycline, amoxicillin, and florfenicol, while resistance to critically important antimicrobials such as ceftriaxone, imipenem and vancomycin remained comparatively low (1.0-10.0%) or rare (<0.1%). Multidrug resistance (MDR), defined as resistance to three or more antimicrobial classes, was observed in more than half of the isolates. Resistance patterns varied across farms, but amoxicillin and florfenicol resistance frequently co-occurred, serving as strong predictors of MDR status. These findings highlight the substantial prevalence of AMR among bacteria in intensive poultry systems in Hungary. The results emphasize the need for enhanced antimicrobial stewardship, prudent antibiotic use in livestock, and targeted biosecurity interventions to mitigate the potential spillover of resistance into the broader ecosystem and human health. While the species investigated are known to include pathogenic strains, the isolates analyzed in this study were obtained from healthy birds and are thus regarded as isolates recovered from clinically healthy birds' representatives.
Keywords: antimicrobial, chickens2, coli3, Enterococcus5, Escherichia, Hungary7, MDR6, minimum inhibitory concentration8
Received: 20 Sep 2025; Accepted: 08 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dr. Kerek, Szabó, Barnacz, Csirmaz and Jerzsele. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Adam Dr. Kerek
Abel Szabó
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