Feed safety evaluation for prevalence of zoonotic Salmonella spp. in animal feed

Abstract

Owing to the zoonotic nature of Salmonella, its transmission from feed-to-food is quite feasible and considered as one of the prime factors for the transmission and spread of virulent and drug-resistant strains in humans. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the prevalence of Salmonella in animal feed pellets from different feed mills in Jaipur and its nearby areas. For this, isolation of Salmonella was performed as per standard ISO methods and the presumable strains were further confirmed and characterized into different species by molecular methods. The confirmed strains were analyzed for virulence genes by PCR. Finally, the strains were analyzed for antimicrobial drug resistance by the standard disk diffusion method. The study revealed that the prevalence of Salmonella in feed pellets was moderate and Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium were the two dominated species. Strikingly, the majority of strains were found to possess the virulence genes and resistant to analyzed clinical antimicrobials. Results inferred that contaminated animal feeds may act as a potential source for the dissemination of virulent and drug-resistant Salmonella spp in animals as well as human beings. The present study implicated the need for more focused and extensive investigations from different parts of the country and the world for strict regulation of animal feed safety to assure one health concept.