Characterization of integrons and resistance genes in multidrug-resistant Salmonella enterica isolated from meat and dairy products in Egypt

Abstract

Foodborne pathogens are a leading cause of illness and death, especially in developing countries. The problem is exacerbated if bacteria attain multidrug resistance. Little is currently known about the extent of antibiotic resistance in foodborne pathogens and the molecular mechanisms underlying this resistance in Africa. Therefore, the current study was carried out to characterize, at the molecular level, the mechanism of multidrug resistance in Salmonella enterica isolated from 1600 food samples (800 meat products and 800 dairy products) collected from different street venders, butchers, retail markets and slaughterhouses in Egypt. Forty-seven out of 69 isolates (68.1%) showed multidrug resistance phenotypes to at least three classes of antimicrobials. The incidence of multidrug-resistant isolates was higher in meat products (37, 69.8%) than in dairy products (10, 62.5%). The multidrug-resistant serovars included, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (24 isolates, 34.8%), S. enterica serovar Enteritidis, (15 isolates, 21.8%), S. enterica serovar Infantis (7 isolates, 10.1%) and S. enterica non-typable serovar (1 isolate, 1.4%). The highest resistance was to ampicillin (95.7%), then to kanamycin (93.6%), spectinomycin (93.6%), streptomycin (91.5%) and sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (91.5%). PCR and DNA sequencing were used to screen and characterize integrons and antibiotic resistance genes and 39.1% and 8.7% of isolates were positive for class 1 and class 2 integrons, respectively. β-lactamase-encoding genes were identified in 75.4% of isolates and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes were identified in 27.5% of isolates. Finally, the florphenicol resistance gene, floR, was identified in 18.8% of isolates. PCR screening identified S. enterica serovar Typhimurium DT104 in both meat and dairy products. This is the first study to report many of these resistance genes in dairy products. This study highlights the high incidence of multidrug-resistant S. enterica in meat and dairy products in Egypt, with the possibility of their transfer to humans leading to therapeutic failure. Therefore, the overuse of antibiotics in animals should be drastically reduced in developing countries.