Prevalence, seasonal occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in poultry retail products in Greece

Abstract

Aims: To detect the prevalence, the seasonal occurrence and distribution of Salmonella serotypes in poultry products and to determine the resistance profile of Salmonella isolates. Method and Results: A total of 96 skin‐on chicken carcasses and 30 liver samples were analysed between May 2007 and May 2009 from twenty‐two different commercial farm brands found in retail market countrywide. Salmonella was isolated from 38 (39·5%) of 96 chicken carcasses and from 10 (33·3%) of 30 liver samples. Higher isolation rate (60·4%) was observed in carcasses detected during summer (May to October), and lower isolation rate (18·7%) was observed in carcasses detected during winter (November to April); in liver samples, the positive rates were 53·4 and 13·2%, respectively. Twelve serotypes were detected with the serotypes Hadar, Enteritidis and Blockley being the most prevalent at 29·2, 22·9 and 12·5%, respectively. Nine of 11 Salm. Enteritidis isolates occurred during summer. Of 48 isolates, 38 (79%) were resistant to one or more of the antimicrobial agents used. The highest resistance rates were found to the following antimicrobials: streptomycin (64·5%), tetracycline (56·2%), nalidixic acid (39·5%), ampicillin and rifampicin (33·3%). Conclusions: The relatively high Salmonella spp. contamination rates of raw chicken meat and liver have been detected. Salm. Enteritidis isolates peaked in summer, increasing the risk to human health. Antibiotic resistance of Salmonella still remains a threat as resistance plasmids may be extensively shared between animal and humans. Significance and Impact of the Study: The study enabled us to improve the data on the seasonal occurrence of Salmonella and to determine the antimicrobial pattern profile and trends in Salmonella strains isolated from poultry retail products in Greece.

Characterization of Salmonella isolates from municipal sewage, patients, foods, and animals in Greece using antimicrobial susceptibility testing and pulsed field gel electrophoresis

“…According to our study, multiresistant isolates were 39% (n=88), in line to previous studies in Greece concerning poultry and poultry products [26,27]. Multi-drug resistance is high among isolates from humans in EU (28.9%) with the higher levels reported from Italy (63.1%) and Hungary (55.8%).…”

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella serotypes isolated from retail chicken meat and giblets in Iran

“…In this study, high antimicrobial resistance rates were found against nalidixic acid (92.8%), tetracycline (81%), trimethoprim (68.4%), sulfamethoxazole / trimethoprim (61.2%), streptomycin (56.7%), and kanamycin (36.9%). As in the present study, resistance to the above antibiotics have also been frequently reported in a number of other investigations on poultry products in Iran and other countries [12,[18][19][20]28,32,36,[45][46][47][48]. The Salmonella resistance rates to nalidixic acid (92.8%) and tetracycline (81%) found in this study were higher than resistance rates to other antimicrobials because of the overuse of these antimicrobials for treatment and growth promotion in different fields.…”

<i>Salmonella</i> Contamination in Layer Farms in China: Detection and Genetic Analysis

“…However, the survey revealed the contaminations to be minor, although the samples were collected during an outbreak-prone season. Previous studies have revealed that Salmonella contaminations may fluctuate throughout the year because of seasonal effects, and that contaminations are generally relatively higher during summer (Zdragas et al, 2012;Sivaramalingam et al, 2013). Environmental samples reportedly provide an accurate and representative risk indicator for Salmonella contamination in layer flocks and eggs (Namata et al, 2008;Denagamage et al, 2015).…”