Abstract
BackgroundStaphylococcus species cause mastitis and wound infection in livestock and food poisoning in humans through ingestion of contaminated foods, including meat and dairy products. They are evolving pathogens in that they readily acquire drug resistance, and multiple drug-resistant (MDR) isolates are increasing in human and veterinary healthcare. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of Staphylococci and their drug resistance in dairy farms and abattoir settings of Addis Ababa.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 193 samples of milk, meat, equipment and humans working in the dairy farms and abattoir were collected (dairy farms = 72 and abattoir sources = 121). Staphylococcus isolation and identification at the species level was done according to ISO-6888-3 using biochemical characteristics. An antimicrobial susceptibility test was conducted for 43 of the isolates using 15 antimicrobial agents commonly used for humans and livestock by the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method following CLSI guidelines.ResultsStaphylococcus organism were isolated from 92 (47.7%) of the total 193 samples, 50% in the dairy farms and 46.3% in the abattoir. The isolated species were S. aureus (n = 31; 16.1%), S. intermedius (n = 21; 10.9%), S. hyicus (n = 16; 8.3%), and coagulase negative Staphylococcus (CNS) (n = 24; 12.4%). Gentamycin was effective drug as all isolates (n = 43; 100%) were susceptible to it and followed by kanamycin (n = 39; 90.7%). However, the majority of the isolates showed resistance to penicillin-G (95.3%), nalidixic acid (88.4%), cloxacillin (79.1%), vancomycin (65.1%) and cefoxitin (55.8%). Of the 15 S. aureus tested for drug susceptibility, 73.3% of them were phenotypically resistant to vancomycin (VRSA) and all of the 15 isolates showed multi-drug resistance (MDR) to >3 drugs. Also, all of the tested CNS (100%), S. hyicus (100%) and the majority of S. intermedius isolates (88.9%) developed MDR.ConclusionAlarmingly, the Staphylococcus isolates circulating in the dairy farms and abattoir in the study area harbor MDR. High level of Staphylococcus species isolation from personnel and equipment besides food (meat and milk) samples in dairy farms and abattoir settings reveals that the hygiene practice in the dairy farm and abattoir is substandard. Prudent drug use and improved hygienic practice is recommended in the dairy farms and abattoir to safeguard the public from the risk of acquiring infections and MDR pathogenic Staphylococcus.
Highlights
Staphylococcus species cause mastitis and wound infection in livestock and food poisoning in humans through ingestion of contaminated foods, including meat and dairy products
Our personal observation during sample collection showed that dairy farms and abattoir workers practiced substandard hygiene
The present study revealed high proportion of Staphylococcus species (47.7%) (S. aureus, S. intermedius, S. hyicus and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CNS)) in dairy farms and abattoir settings at Addis Ababa
Summary
Staphylococcus species cause mastitis and wound infection in livestock and food poisoning in humans through ingestion of contaminated foods, including meat and dairy products. Of the coagulase-positive Staphylococci group, the three major pathogenic ones are S. aureus, S. intermedius and S. hyicus [5, 6] These three species are associated in many diverse and specialized forms with healthy and diseased farm animals and most of common pet animals [5]. They are the major pathogen causing mastitis have tropism to different body parts of various hosts [5, 7, 8]. Staphylococcal food poisoning has been reported as third cause of food-borne illnesses in the world [19]
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