Multiple antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella serotypes isolated from chicken carcass and giblets in Debre Zeit and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella and other zoonotic bacterial pathogens can be transferred from animals to humans through consumption of contaminated food and food products and thus present a public health risk. The increase in Salmonella resistance to the commonly used antimicrobials both in the public health and veterinary sectors is one of the major threats of health care worldwide.
Objectives: The present study was undertaken to determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern of eighty Salmonella strains isolated from chicken carcass and giblets (liver, gizzard and heart) obtained from processing plants at Debre Zeit and supermarkets in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods: Eighty Salmonella strains were isolated from a total of 378 chicken carcass and giblet samples. Isolated Salmonella strains were serotyped and tested for resistance to 23 different antimicrobial agents with the agar dilution method at the Health Canada, Office International des Épizooties (OIÉ) Reference Laboratory for Salmonellosis in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Results: Fifty-one (63.7%) of the 80 Salmonella strains were resistant to one or more antimicrobials of which 42 (52.5%) displayed multiple-drug resistance. Among the strains, 51.2% were resistant to sulfisoxazole, 46.2% to spectinomycin, 45% to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and ampicillin, 41.2% to tetracycline and 30% to chloramphenicol. Less than 27.5% of the strains showed resistance to florfenicol, streptomycin, cotrimoxazole and to trimethoprim. S. typhimurium var. Copenhagen (100%), S. anatum (62.5%), S. typhimurium (33.3%) and S. braenderup (34.3%) showed multiple antimicrobial resistance to up to eight antimicrobials. None of the strains were resistant to amikacin, apramycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, neomycin, tobramycin, quinolones, cephalosporins and nitrofurantoin.
Conclusion: Results of the present study indicated the potential importance of chickens as source of multiple antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella for human infections and suggest the need for detailed epidemiological and molecular studies in food animals, food products and humans in Ethiopia. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2003;17(2):131-140]