Biomedical Statistics and Informatics 2021; 6(3): 42-46 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/bsi doi: 10.11648/j.bsi.20210603.11 ISSN: 2578-871X (Print); ISSN: 2578-8728 (Online) Occurrences of Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli Isolated from Intestinal Faecal Contents of Covurs splendens (Indian Crow) Philbert Balichene Madoshi 1, * , Shuli Nkalango Mitemi 2 , Abdul Ahmed Selemani Katakweba 3 1 Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, ST Francis University College of Health and Allied Sciences, Ifakara, Tanzania 2 Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Parasitology and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania 3 Pest Management Centre, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania Email address: * Corresponding author To cite this article: Philbert Balichene Madoshi, Shuli Nkalango Mitemi, Abdul Ahmed Selemani Katakweba. Occurrences of Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli Isolated from Intestinal Faecal Contents of Covurs splendens (Indian Crow). Biomedical Statistics and Informatics. Vol. 6, No. 3, 2021, pp. 42-46. doi: 10.11648/j.bsi.20210603.11 Received: May 6, 2021; Accepted: June 18, 2021; Published: August 18, 2021 Abstract: Introduction: Indian crows have been commented to present significant physical community harm with respect to property damage and agricultural products. However the public health significant of these birds in the developing countries has been underrated. Their scavenging nature might result into spread of pathogens in the public as well as the antimicrobial traits among bacteria. In order to gain the insight into the role of Indian crows as carriers and reservoir of multi-resistant E. coli; broad spectrum antimicrobial agents were tested using a wild E. coli isolated from the birds themselves. Methods: The Escherichia coli bacteria were isolated and identified from intestinal contents of 30 Indian crows in Morogoro. An 100µl Intestinal contents were spread on MacConkey for E. coli isolation. A total of eight (8) antimicrobial agents: STX (25 µg), AMP (10 µg), AMC (30 µg), CN (10 µg), CIP (5 µg), TE (30 µg), S (10 µg) and CTX (30 µg) were used. E. coli ATCC 25922 and included as control strains. Results: The resistance TE and SXT were the most prevalent (90%), followed by AMP (76.7%) and S (73.3%), CIP (53.3%), and CTX (36.7%). The susceptibility of these isolates was high in CN 96.7%. It also shown among 30 of the E. coli isolates; twenty-eight of them presented multiple antibiotic resistances. Conclusion: The results have shown that Indian crow can serve as a reservoir of antibiotic-resistant E. coli, and potentially transmit such E. coli over long distances. This is a hidden public health threat as these crows move from one place to another and is found in residential areas contaminating water and food with resistant bacteria and antimicrobial resistance strains. Keywords: Indian Crow, AMR, Peri-urban, Morogoro, Antibiotics 1. Introduction Indian crows (Coryuss plendens) are birds native to the Indian sub-continent but are now widely spread throughout the tropical climate. The birds entry in Tanzania dates back 1890s in Zanzibar isles; Long [1], described that the birds were introduced in the island as scavengers of garbage. However the birds are now ubiquitous along the Indian coast of Kenya and Tanzania mainland [2, 3]. This could be explained by the fact that the birds are very good at adapting various habitats, Wium-Anderson and Reid [3] reported that the crows are tremendously increasing in numbers in Tanzania mainland where they have been located in Morogoro since 1997 and to other places such as Mikumi national park and as far as Ifakara. These groups of birds are good at invading and affecting ecological pattern of the indigenous birds by feeding on the eggs and chickens [3, 4]. Furthermore they affect agricultural productivity activities especially in orchards, decimating grain crops and pecking eyes of pigs and sheep [5, 6]. The crows have also invaded human settlements such that they can be located along houses, damping sites, restaurants and other