New threat hangs over Kenya’s rhinos

– The rhinos living in a national park in Kenya face a new threat: microscopic, drug-resistant bacteria.

Scientists behind a study in a recent issue of New York-based academic journal EcoHealth discovered that bacteria samples found in the endangered animals in Ruma National Park, a protected area on the shores of Lake Victoria, had developed alarming levels of antibiotic resistance.

The rhinos appear to have become unexpected casualties of the global overuse of the drugs.

Resistance to the drugs is growing because people take the drugs for non-bacterial diseases; do not finish the course, allowing bacteria to recover and adapt; and because many farmers overuse the medicines on livestock.

Antibiotic use and abuse in Kenya has been rampant for decades, elevating the levels of drug-resistant bacteria in people, livestock and now wildlife.

The team of scientists, which included Maseno University PhD student Collins Kipkorir Kebenei, used fecal samples to study resistance levels in the bacteria found in 16 black rhinos.

They isolated samples of E. coli in both rhino and human waste and studied how resistant they were to eight of the most commonly used antibiotics: ampicillin, gentamicin, tetracycline, cotrimoxazole, chloramphenicol, ceftriaxone, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and erythromycin.

Resistance levels in the bacteria found in rhinos and those found in humans were comparable for four of the antibiotics. The bacteria in rhinos were more resistant than those in humans for two of them. That’s a problem because rhinos are susceptible to the bacterial disease bovine tuberculosis, researchers in the Kruger National Park have found. Antibiotic resistance could make treatment harder.

“If rhinos are sick, they need to be treated – and so what kind of medication can be used on these animals?” Kebenei said in the university laboratory, as his advisor and co-author zoology professor Patrick Onyango looked on.

Onyango said antibiotic-resistant infections were a new and insidious threat. Rhinos are already critically endangered, with only about 29 000 still alive, according to the International Rhino Foundation. About 5% of them are in Kenya.

It’s unclear how the rhinos are being exposed to the drug-resistant bacteria. It could be from drinking at Lambwe River, which runs through Ruma National Park and carries waste containing antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Or it could be through contact with rangers protecting them from poachers.

“There are people hawking antibiotics at bus stations,” added David M Onyango, who also co-authored the study. “There is no proper policy and regulation on their use.” –