Determination of antimicrobial resistant of salmonella species and Escherichia coli in broiler chickens slaughtered in commercial abattoirs in Lusaka Province, Zambia

Abstract

Food-borne diseases (FBDs) are a threat to public health and are among the top five causes of illness and death worldwide. Increased demand for food globally has led to an increase in poultry production. Previous studies done in Zambia found Salmonella sp. and E. coli to be major bacterial contaminants in poultry. Most of these FBDs pathogens are known to be resistant to antimicrobials, making their management challenging. Irrational antibiotic usage is considered the most important factor promoting the emergence, selection and dissemination of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. Drug resistance leads to treatment failures and mortality in animals and humans. This study’s aim was to determine the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance of foodborne pathogens namely; Salmonella sp. and E. coli in broiler chickens slaughtered from commercial abattoirs in Lusaka province, Zambia. The study employed a cross-sectional study in Lusaka and Chilanga districts. Samples were processed for salmonella isolation, phenotyped using the API® and speciated using 16S RNA PCR. One hundred and fifty (150) swabs were collected (75 cloaca and 75 carcass swabs). Two Salmonella sp. and 118 E. coli were isolated from cloaca and carcass swabs, respectively. One of the Salmonella sp. isolated exhibited resistance to ampicillin (50%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (50%) and cefotaxime (50%). Resistance in E.coli was observed to ampicillin (72.9%), tetracycline (71.2%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (60.2%), nalidixic acid (53.4%), chloramphenicol (39%), ciprofloxacin 28%, cefotaxime (27.1%) (10.2%). No resistance (100%) susceptibility was observed to colistin sulphate and imipenem. 107 E. coli isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic (90.7%), while 62 isolates (53.2%) exhibited multiple drug resistance (MDR). There was no statistical association between chicken batch AMR status of and investigated predictor variables (p>0.05). The study shows presence of multidrug resistance of Salmonella sp. and E. coli in broiler chickens and may largely contribute to the wider and broad challenge of antimicrobial resistance Key words: Foodborne diseases, Antimicrobial resistance, Salmonella sp., E. coli.