ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE OF SALMONELLA ISOLATED FROM RAW CHICKEN EGG IN MIZAN TEFERI TOWN, SOUTH WEST ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Analytical cross-sectional study (between a poultry farm and a local market) was conducted on 366 raw chicken eggs from Mizan Teferi, Ethiopia, from November 2017 to June 2018. The study was carried out to estimate the prevalence and antibiotic susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from fresh raw chicken eggs collected from Mizan Teferi town, south eastern, Ethiopia. The samples were examined for the presence of Salmonella following standard techniques and procedures outlined by the International Organization for Standardization. From the total of 366 eggs examined for Salmonella, 27(7.4%) were positive, of which 24 (6.3%) and 4 (1.1%) were isolated from egg shell and egg contents, respectively. There is not significantly difference between prevalence of Salmonella in eggs from the open market (7.6%) and poultry farm (7.1%) (p >0.05). The prevalence of Salmonella in egg content of the open market (1.6%) was also significantly higher than the prevalence of Salmonella in egg contents from poultry farm (0.5%) (p <0.05). The difference in prevalence observed between farm egg shell (6.5%) and market egg shell (6.01%) was not statistically significant (p >0.05). All the 27 isolates of Salmonella were tested for their antimicrobial susceptibility for twelve different antimicrobials. Of these ciprofloxacin (85.2) showed maximum sensitivity, followed by tetracycline (77.7) and gentamycin (66.6%). Clindamycin was the most resisted (51.8%), followed by ampicillin (44.4%), amoxicillin (40.7%) and erythromycin (33.3%). All of the isolates were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent. Questionnaire survey was also carried out on 200 consumers and egg sellers (100 from each group). Their preferred form of egg consumption revealed that 67.5% preferred only cooked eggs while 32.5% showed preference for raw eggs. Twenty nine (44.6%) respondents who practiced eating raw eggs faced problems like nausea and vomiting, abdominal discomfort and diarrhea, while 36 (55.4%) faced no problems. The presence of drug resistant Salmonella contamination and habit of raw eggs consumption is of significant public health concern. Therefore, to minimize the potential contamination of eggs by the pathogen, they should be properly handled, transported, stored and cooked appropriately. In general, public health measures such as improved food hygiene and health education are of paramount importance.