Antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella spp. isolated from raw meats at traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh city

Abstract

The study’s results on a total of 380 fresh samples of raw meat (pork, beef, chicken) randomly collected at conventional markets of districts in Ho Chi Minh city showed that the prevalence of Salmonella spp. is 42.37%. The prevalence of Salmonella in pork, chicken, and beef were 50.00%, 49.62%, and 26.83%, respectively. The proportion of Salmonella strains that resisted at least 1 antibiotic was 37.89%, from 2 to 5 antibiotics was 22.98%, and from 6 to 11 antibiotics occupied 8.70%, mainly for β-lactams, Tetracyclin, Chloramphenicol, Streptomycin, and Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim antibiotics. In particular, up to 83.72% of the Salmonella strains carry antibiotic resistance genes (mainly isolated from pork). In antibiotic-resistant Salmonella strains, the sul1, cmlA, tetA, sul2, cmlB genes were detected with the rates of 27.90, 23.26, 21.74, 9.30, and 5.59%, respectively. Salmonella strains carrying genes encoding ESBL in the TEM group were 58.14% and 9.30% in the CTX group. This data provided more direct evidence of Salmonella contamination in food and the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant strains in Ho Chi Minh city. Therefore, there is an urgent need to establish programs to monitor and control Salmonella and the use of antibiotics in Vietnam to protect the health of consumers.