Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Salmonella Isolated from Animal-Origin Food Items in Gondar, Ethiopia

Salmonella has been found to be the major cause of foodborne diseases and a serious public health problem in the world, with an increasing concern for the emergence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant strains. A cross-sectional study was conducted between February 2014 and December 2015 on food items of animal origin to assess the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Salmonella isolates using standard bacteriological methods. The overall prevalence rate of 5.5% was recorded from the total analyzed food items of animal origin. Salmonella isolates were detected from 12% of raw meat, 8% of minced meat, 2.9% of burger samples, 18% of raw eggs, and 6% of raw milk. Furthermore, antimicrobial susceptibility test identified 47.6% resistant Salmonella isolates, 28.6% intermediately sensitive isolates, and 23.8% susceptible isolates. Among Salmonella isolates tested, 42.6%, 28.6%, and 14.3% were found to be relatively resistant to tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, and ampicillin, respectively, while 9.5%-19% were intermediately resistant to tetracycline, amoxicillin, ampicillin, cephalothin, and nitrofurantoin. Therefore, our findings provide the prevalence and drug resistance of Salmonella from foods of animal origin and contribute information to scientists as well as public health researchers to minimize the prevalent and resistant foodborne Salmonella species in Ethiopia.