Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Salmonella Spp. in Chicken Meat

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the Salmonella spp. presence in 100 chicken meat samples (25 breasts and 25 drumsticks with skin and 25 breasts and 25 drumsticks without skin) that were collected between February and April, 2021, in Van, Turkiye and investigate the antibiotic resistance profiles of the isolates. The results of the cultivation and PCR analysis revealed that a total of 17 samples comprising four drumstick with skin (16%), five drumstick without skin and breast without skin (20%), and three breast with skin (12%) samples were positive for Salmonella spp. The analysis of 17 chicken meat samples yielded a total of 33 Salmonella spp. isolates. S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium were not detected in the serotyping of Salmonella isolates using PCR. According to the disc diffusion test, the isolates were resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and streptomycin (33.33%), ampicillin (36.36%), gentamicin and ceftriaxone (24.24%), chloramphenicol (42.42%), cefotaxime (12.12%), tetracycline (30.30%), and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (81.82%). The isolates were intermediately resistant to streptomycin (18.18%) and tetracycline (9.09%). PCR analysis for the detection of resistance genes revealed that 77.78% and 62.96% of the trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-resistant isolates harbored sul1 and sul2 genes, respectively. The pse-1 gene was detected in 66.67% of the ampicillin-resistant isolates while the tetA and tetB genes were detected in 20% and 10% of the tetracycline-resistant isolates, respectively. The ant(3")-la gene was detected in all (100%) gentamicin-resistant isolates. In conclusion, the absence of S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis in the Salmonella spp. isolates from the chicken meats that were obtained from the Van market indicated the compliance of the products with the Turkish Food Codex while the presence of Salmonella spp. indicated the poor hygienic quality of the meats. The high antimicrobial resistance of the isolates and the presence of the resistance genes can result in the transmission of resistant species to humans, which may require complicated treatments and cause the emergence of a serious public health issue.