Characterization of β -lactamase and quinolone resistant Clostridium perfringens recovered from broiler chickens with necrotic enteritis in Bangladesh

causes necrotic enteritis (NE) and is considered a major economic burden in the broiler industry and a significant foodborne pathogen, worldwide. isolated from NE affected broiler chickens was aimed to characterize and the presence of -lactamase and quinolone resistant genes were also investigated in the isolates. A total of 224 intestinal and caecal specimens were collected from NE affected broiler chickens and cultured to isolate . The toxicogenic characterization of was appraised using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and antibiotic susceptibility testing (disc diffusion method). The selected isolates were characterized for β-lactamase and quinolone encoding genes by PCR analysis. All isolates were cultured positive for and the toxin-encoding genes of ( , , , , , and enterotoxin) were also identified. About 65.6% of isolates had a multi-drug resistant (MDR) profile but none of these isolates were resistant or susceptible to all screened antibiotics. A subset of isolates, 160 and 98 were analyzed for β-lactamase and quinolone genes, respectively, and recognized , , and in 64 (40%; CI: 32.35-48.03%; P