Occurrence And Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns Of Salmonella In Retail Cabbages In Umuahia

ABSTRACT

 Salmonella is among the most important foodborne pathogens worldwide with fresh vegetables as major route of transmission to man. Samples of cabbage vegetable samples were analyzed for the presence of Salmonella species using standard plating techniques on Salmonella Shigella agar. Samples were cultured using selective isolation with prior enrichment method. Presumptive isolates were identified and characterized using conventional biochemical methods. These bacteria species were tested for their susceptibility to standard antibiotics by agar disk diffusion method. The bacterial load of the carrot samples ranged between 6.7llogcfulg to 9.041ogcfu/g. Similarly, the coliform counts were ranged between 4.O7logcfu/g and 5.841ogcfu/g across all the markets All Salmonella isolates (100%) were resistant to Augmentin, Ceftazidime, Ceftriaxone and Cefuroxime. High sensitivity percentage was observed against Gentamicin (20%), Oflaxacin (30%), Cefuroxime (34%), Peflacin (26%), Amoxycillin-clavulanate and Nitrofurantoin (18%) for the Salmonella isolates. The response of the Salmonella isolates to very stressors such as acetic acid and Nacl concentrations. The emergence of high antimicrobial resistance among Salmonella isolates is alarming since these vegetables are commonly eaten raw and has obvious implications for public health because multidrug resistance limits the possible effectiveness of therapeutic treatments. This study provides data that support the potential transmission strains of Salmonella harboring resistance factors from vegetables and environmental sources to cause infections in humans.