The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Salmonella enterica in raw chicken meat, eggs, and ready-to-eat foods containing poultry products and among patients suffering from diarrhea as a result of ingestion of this foodborne pathogen in Baghdad, Iraq. It assesses the antibiotics susceptibility, virulence and pathogenicity of S. enterica isolates. Thirteen Salmonella spp. isolates from foodstuff and seven from clinical patients were recovered from 80 and 20 samples, respectively. Isolates from foodstuff samples displayed the highest resistance to nalidixic acid (69.23%), followed by chloramphenicol (53.84%). Salmonella spp. isolated from clinical samples showed resistance to both azithromycin and cefotaxime at the same percentage level (71.42%). The results of antibiotic resistance gene amplification (gyrA, mphA) were analyzed and showed that these genes were present in 100% and 50% of phenotypically resistant isolates, respectively. Virulence genes invA, avrA, and sipB were found on average in 86% of food isolates, accounting for 69.2%, 92.3%, and 95%, respectively. In addition, the detection of these virulence genes among clinical isolates showed their presence at the same level (85.7%). Our study revealed that unhygienic chicken slaughterhouses and lack of food safety management are strong indicators of a high probability of the Salmonella presence in our food products in the Iraqi markets.

This study is aimed to Green-synthesize and characterize Al NPs from Clove (Syzygium aromaticumL.) buds plant extract and to investigate their effect on isolated and characterized Salmonella enterica growth. S. aromaticum buds aqueous extract was prepared from local market clove, then mixed with Aluminum nitrate Al(NO3)3. 9 H2O, 99.9% in ¼ ratio for green-synthesizing of Al NPs. Color change was a primary confirmation of Al NPs biosynthesis. The biosynthesized nanoparticles were identified and characterized by AFM, SEM, EDX and UV–Visible spectrophotometer. AFM data recorded 122nm particles size and the surface roughness RMs) of the pure S. aromaticum buds aqueous extract recorded 17.5nm particles size, while the results of Al NPs in the tested sample recorded 21nm particles size with surface roughness RMs about 2.35nm. SEM images revealed the presence of Al NPs with diameters ranged from 33.5-70.4nm with regular spiracles shape particles in the prepared biosynthesized nanoparticle sample. The EDX spectrum analysis showed that the Aluminium weight ratio was 1.75, while it was 50.498 in the Al NPs sample prepared from aqueous extract. UV-Visible spectroscopy data revealed that biosynthesized Al NPs were absorbed at 213nm while Aluminum nitrate was absorbed at 258nm. These results indicate the formation of Al NPs. The antibacterial activity showed that Al NPs exhibited having high antibacterial activity on Salmonella spp. isolates compared to the effect of the control agent (imipenem) in this experiment. We conclude that biosynthesized Al NPs from clove aqueous extract can be exploited as natural antibacterial compounds to inhibit the growth of Salmonella.