Multidrug Resistant Salmonella Isolated from Street Foods in Chittagong, Bangladesh

Aim: The oodles raising of zoonotic multi-drug resistance (MDR) Salmonella spp. during the last decade, especially in developing countries by repeated challenges resulting from increased and indiscriminate use of antimicrobials in food animals, fish and crop production, and human treatments is one of the dismal issues and might have a dire consequence in near future. The nascent MDR Salmonella may also find their way to commonly available street foods in Bangladesh. Therefore, it is imperative to find out the existence of MDR Salmonella in street foods of Bangladesh.

Study Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study to interrogate the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in street food items and the antimicrobial resistance pattern of isolated Salmonella spp.

Place and duration of Study: The study was conducted from January to June 2016 in 5 street side markets (Agrabad, Colnel Hat, Alonkar Bazar, Bohderhat Bazar and Riazuddin Bazar) of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) area of Bangladesh.

Methodology: Standard microbiological methods were used for isolation and identification of Salmonella spp. from selected street foods. The antibiotic susceptibility tests were conducted by using disc diffusion method with commercially available 11 antimicrobials which are frequently used for medical and veterinary practices in Bangladesh.

Results: Prevalence of Salmonella spp. were varied from 60% to 78% among the street food items. The study revealed MDR Salmonella (resistance up to 6 of 11 tested antimicrobials) from each of the food items tested. Concerning the degree of resistance, among the isolated Salmonella, the highest resistances (100%) were detected for Ampicillin and Amoxicillin and lowest for Pefloxacin (around 13%). Moreover, the degree of resistance of Salmonella to antimicrobials also varied among the various street food items.

Conclusion: The existence of MDR Salmonella notably a high rate in the street foods cues poor hygiene in street food production and it is a major threat for the advent of foodborne zoonoses.