Journal of Infectious Diseases & Preventive Medicine
Open Access

Antibiotic Susceptibility Patterns of Salmonella Sp. Isolated From Cattle Dungs and Slaughter Slabs, Ile-Ife, Osun State

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Introduction

The demand and consumption of animal products such as meat (especially raw meat) is high in particular and in the country in general. Nevertheless, reports on the hygienic status abattoir and butcher shops are fragmented because no comparable data are available regarding the assessment of food safety practice, foodborne diseases, and microbial load of meat in the abattoir and butcher shops of the study area. Top among hygiene slaughter challenges in developing countries, including Nigeria, is the lack of necessary infrastructure that enhances hygiene processing such as potable water supply, drainage, and proper waste disposal facilities [1-3].

This is exacerbated by poor knowledge, unhygienic methods of slaughter and processing activities among slaughterhouse personnel as well as government’s lack of political will to enforce hygiene slaughter and meat inspection laws in slaughterhouses. In most Nigeria slaughterhouses, activities such as slaughter, flaying, carcass splitting, and intestinal evisceration are usually performed on the floor resulting in profound contamination of the floor and carcasses with feces. Livestock feces are heavily populated with Enterobacteriaceae, which are commensal flora of the gastrointestinal tract.

They are always present in the slaughterhouse environment, and being harbored and shed by animals and slaughterhouse personnel, are the most common contaminating aerobic bacteria in slaughterhouses. Salmonella is a zoonotic foodborne pathogen and the etiologic agent of salmonellosis. The emergence of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella recovered from meat products has become a source of major concern. Pathogens are reported to inflict more serious damage when they are antimicrobialresistant. Resistance results in longer stay in hospital as well as increased cost and less effective chemotherapy that may become toxic to the patient. Infections due to resistant Salmonella are reported to result in increase in morbidity and mortality, especially in immune compromised patients.

Obviously, the presence of resistant Salmonella in meat is a threat to public health. Salmonellae resist drugs through enzymatic degradation, alteration of site of actions, blocking cell permeability, efflux pumps, and horizontal transfer of resistant genes. Drug-resistant Salmonella are capable of transmitting antibacterial resistance genes to other bacteria, thereby maintaining the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance among bacteria in the food chain. In Nigeria, multidrugresistant Salmonella spp. has been isolated from various sources: Water, farm produce and environment, abattoir environment poultry [4-6]

In this study, we investigated the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Salmonella sp. isolated from cattle dungs and slaughter slabs, ile-Ife, osun state.

Materials and Methods

Study area

The study was carried out in slaughter houses located in Ile-ife, Osun state. The city is located in present-day Osun state with a population of 509,813 according to population census of 2006 (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The study was carried out in slaughter houses located in Ile-ife, Osun state.

Sample selection

In order to get the cattle slaughter house, 15 locations were selected randomly out of (29 wards local government) located in Ile-ife.

Sample collection

The surface swabs from abattoir were collected aseptically using sterile moistened swab sticks by rubbing firmly over the predetermined surface area using parallel stroke lines with slow rotation with respectively chosen template surface area to be swabbed. In the abattoir the moistened sterile swab stick was used to swab 60 cm2 from the slaughter slabs. The swabs were transferred to the respective capped sterile tubes and then transferred into the tube containing nutrient broth aseptically.

Isolation, identification and characterization

Each sample swab was inoculated into prepared sterile nutrient broth (Oxoid, UK) and incubated at 37°C for 24 h for enrichment. Discrete colonies were later sub-cultured on a solid differential media; MacKonkey agar (E.coli) and salmonellashigella agar (SS Agar). All the plates were incubated at 37°C for 24 hr. Discrete colonies were further sub cultured onto freshly prepared plates of nutrient agar. Gram staining, morphological identification, catalase and coagulase tests, sugar fermentation analysis and antimicrobial susceptibility trends of the isolate were conducted [7-10].

Results

A total of twenty-one (21) Salmonella isolates were isolated from 67 samples obtained from cattle dung and slaughter slab (Tables 1-4).

Table 1: Morphological reaction of isolate to the selected media.

Table 2: Microscopic examination of isolates.

Table 3: Biochemical test of the Salmonella specie.

Table 4: Antibiotic susceptibility index of Salmonella.

DISCUSSION

The study revealed the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of Salmonella specie isolated from slaughter slabs and cattle dungs in Ile-Ife, Osun state and how it poses a significant risk on the consumers. From the 67 samples collected from abattoirs 21 samples showed Salmonella growth and the rest showed other enteric bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Shigella. There is thus, urgent need for applying proper hygienic practices among the food vendors as we equally recommend the use disposable aprons by the meat vendors as these will restrict transfer and the spread of food borne pathogens (Table 5) [11-14].

Table 5: Imperative chart of zone of sizes of sensitivity to antibiotics.

Based on this study Salmonella showed resistance to Gentamycin, Amoxicillin and Augmentin but susceptible to Ciprofloxacin, Chloramphenicol, Pefloxacin and Streptomycin. The ability of some of these Salmonella isolates to show high level of resistance to some of the antimicrobial agents used is an indication that these antibiotics have been abused, hence the possibility they have acquired resistance.

Conclusion

Knowing the prevalent resistance of these microorganisms to antibiotics, different antibiotics must be used and tested to know which actually is potent to treat salmonella infections so as to reduce excessive cost of health services, reduce morbid services, reduce mortality rate and overall lead to a general wellbeing. However, preventive measures should be taken especially daily washing of the slaughter slab and proper disposal of feacal matters, availability of clean drinking water, promotion of safe food handling practices and public health education in order to maintain a proper hygiene level. The knowledge and understanding about factors that contribute to the occurrence, distribution and establishment of the salmonella disease may be helpful in eliminating its survival in the environment, thereby protecting public health.

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