Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Salmonella spp Isolated from Ready-to-eat foods and Food Handlers in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria

Aim: To assess the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella species isolated from ready-to-eat foods and food handlers in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted in selected places in Port Harcourt, between November 2019 and June 2021.

Methodology: A total of 350 food specimens and 230 food handlers’ specimens were collected. The following street vended food were analysed: White rice/stew, Jollof rice, Rice/beans stew, Porridge beans, Beans/stew, Moi Moi, Africa salad and Roasted plantain. The social demographic information was collected using a questionnaire survey. The samples were analysed for contamination with Salmonella species using conventional protocol. Salmonella species were isolated from samples using Salmonella-Shigella agar (SSA), Xylose-lysine desoxycholate agar (XLD), MacConkey agar (MA), Blood agar (BA) after pre-enrichment and enrichment method has been done using peptone water broth and selenite F broth. Salmonella Chromogenic medium (SCM) was also used to confirm the isolate. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the Salmonella isolates were determined using Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method. Data collected was analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, V25, IBM, USA). The prevalence and distribution of Salmonella sp and antibiotic resistance patterns were presented in frequencies and percentages. All analysis was done at a 95% confidence interval and p-values less than 0.05 were considered significant.

Results: The prevalence of Salmonella species in the street vended foods was 8.2% and 4.8% among the food handlers. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of Salmonella growth observed in street vended food and food handlers (P= 0.2900). The isolates from street vended foods and handlers were susceptible to Sulfamethioxazole/Trimetoprin and Meropeneme and resistant to Amoxiclave, Ceftiaxone, Ampicillin, Cefotaxime, Ceftazidine, Levofloxacin and Tetracycline.

Conclusion: Salmonella isolates identified from the samples and their handlers showed susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, gentamicin, meropenem, sulfamethroxazole/ Trimethoprim with more isolates being sensitive to meropenem. However, they were resistant to amoxiclav, ceftazidine, cefotaxime, levofloxacin and ceftriaxone.