Assaying for the effectiveness and efficiency of some local plant extracts in the control of dairy farm-associated bacteria pathogens using in vitro well diffusion technique

Though antimicrobial agents have been used for the effective control of infectious agents, there is a growing concern about the emergence and re-emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria pathogens against commonly prescribed antibiotics. Consequently, there is gross reduction in the effectiveness of the control mechanism thereby increasing health care costs and its associated consequences. Plant parts and extracts have been used in crude forms for the local control of several ailments including those of animals. Two-phase research was set-up.  One, to isolate and identify multi-drug bacteria pathogens from some small-scale farms in Kwali, FCT, Abuja and their drug resistance status. The second part was to screen and evaluate the antimicrobial effects of common phytochemicals from some local plants, viz; guava (Psidium guajava), ginger (Zingiber officinale), neem (Azadirachta indica), and moringa (Moringa oleifera) against the previously isolated MDR bacteria (Salmonella spp. Clostridium sp. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sp. and E. coli.). The aqueous, ethanolic and methanolic extracts of the plants were used for susceptibility test, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentrations using in vitro agar disc diffusion protocol based on the CLSI methods. The results showed significant Inhibitory zones range of 23-32mm. This is in agreement with several research previously done using plant extracts. The type of solvent used also influenced the quality of the extract and the output. Based on the results, we concluded that the plant extracts have some antimicrobial activities comparable to the currently prescribed modern drugs tested. It is justifiable that the therapeutic agents derived from these plants would be effective in the control of emerging diseases and also contribute to the growth of scientific knowledge about herbal medicines as important alternatives or complementary treatment of animal diseases. It is hereby recommended that further research (The third phase) carry out studies on the clinical efficacy trial, safety, toxicity and affordability analyses as well as optimization and upscaling parameters so as to proceed to the final step for the mass production of the tested products.