Foodborne Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance in Ethiopia: An Urgent Call for Action on “One Health”

Abstract

Foodborne pathogens are the most common cause of foodborne disease worldwide. They contaminate food at all stages of the food chain, at the agricultural production level (soil and irrigation), from animal sources or at the time of preparation by food handlers. Therefore, food security is a critical issue that affects everyone in the world. Current studies indicate that the problem is more severe in low-income countries like Ethiopia. The majority of studies in Ethiopia have been conducted partially on human, animal or environmental samples with conventional culture-based diagnostic methods. Therefore, this review was conducted to gather information on the main foodborne pathogens and identify gaps in their traceability. Clinically important foodborne pathogens in Ethiopia include ( A. lubmbricoids, Toxocara spp., H. nana. E. histolytica/dispar, G. intestinalis, H. diminuta and C. belli ), bacteria ( Salmonella spp, E. coli O157:H7, B. anthracis, Yersinia, C. perfringens, Klebsiella spp. M. paratuberculosis , and L. monocytogenes ), and viruses like (rotaviruses, enteroviruses and astroviruses, hepatitis E virus). In Ethiopia, all isolated foodborne bacterial pathogens showed high rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In particular, the most studied foodborne pathogens, Staphylococcus spp., Salmonella spp., and E. coli from specific sources, showing high levels of resistance to most of the antibiotics prescribed in Ethiopia. The occurrence and persistence of AMR in food is one of the main factors causing the spread of antimicrobial resistance in different compartments, humans, animals and the environment. Therefore, strategies of coordination and struggle from a One Health perspective is an urgent strategy to control antibiotic resistance in order to achieve better outcomes for human and animal health.

A Systematic review on Prevalence, Serotypes and Antibiotic resistance of Salmonella in Ethiopia, 2010–2022

“…1,2 It is one of Ethiopia's top seven priority zoonotic diseases 73 and a significant source of foodborne pathogens. 74 Salmonella prevalence among asymptomatic food handlers ranges from 1% to 10%, which was consistent with research from Pakistan (9.1%). 75 Similar to this, the prevalence of Salmonella among individuals who have diarrhoea ranges from 1% to 13%.…”

“… 1 , 2 It is one of Ethiopia’s top seven priority zoonotic diseases 73 and a significant source of foodborne pathogens. 74 …”

Antibiotic resistance patterns of Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacteriaceae isolated from street foods in selected towns of Ethiopia

“…The resistance of S. aureus to Erythromycin was higher than that of a study done in Taiwan [ 51 ]. The susceptibility of this organism to Chloramphenicol, Ciprofloxacin, and Streptomycin was slightly lower than research documented by [ 4 , 17 , 41 , 52 ], but higher than research done in Gondar and Haramaya, Ethiopia [ 29 , 50 ]. This variation could be attributed to decrease in uptake of the antibiotics by the bacterial cells [ 45 ] and geographical differences.…”

“…Despite the advancement of many antibiotic discoveries, the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria has risen to the top of the list of global public health priorities [ 50 ]. It calls for concerted efforts to conserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for both preventing and treating infections, especially in developing countries [ 6 , 21 , 41 , 50 ].…”

“…Our findings documented that the bacteria isolated from the ready-to-eat foods showed significant resistance to the tested antibiotics which is consistence with the findings of other researchers [ 2 , 6 , 41 ]. This might be due to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in human health, animal husbandry, and agriculture [ 28 , 50 ]. The resistance of S. aureus to Erythromycin was higher than that of a study done in Taiwan [ 51 ].…”