Antibiotic susceptibilities of indicator bacteria Escherichia coli and Enterococci spp. isolated from ducks in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in indicator bacteria Escherichia coli and Enterococci isolated from duck faeces in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania. RESULTS: Escherichia coli and Enterococcus isolation rates from ducks faeces were 91 and 100% respectively. The prevalence of antibiotic resistance of E. coli and Enterococcus was 70.3 and 42%, respectively. E. coli resistant to four antibiotics were 28 (30.8%) and showed high resistance to ampicillin (81.3), tetracycline (75.8) and trimethoprim–sulphamethoxine (62.3). Multiple antibiotic resistance of Enterococcus were more than 65%. High resistance rates shown by Enterococcus were observed in rifampin (62%), ampicillin (62%) and tetracycline (42%). Almost all farmers (92.3%) left their ducks to scavenge for food around their houses. Antibiotics used in animal treatments were oxytetracyclines, sulfonamides, penicillin dihydrostreptomycin while in humans were tetracycline, ampicillin, and amoxicillin. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3201-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.