Prevalence of SalmonellaEnteritidis Infection in Chicken Eggs Collected from Different Poultry Farms in Awka, Anambra Stateof Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the determination of the prevalence of Salmonella Enteritidis in table eggs circulating in Awka, Anambra State. A total of 400 good-looking, undamaged eggs were randomly selected and bought from different poultry farms in Awka and then, screened for Salmonella Enteritidis. The isolation of Salmonella Enteritidis and antibiotic susceptibility testing of the isolates was done using the standard procedures stated in the bacteriological analytical manual (BAM) of the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) and Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI), respectively. Out of 49 (12.3%) isolates positive for Salmonella species, 16 isolates were positive to Salmonella Enteritidis representing 32.7% of the isolated organisms (P>0.05). The prevalence of Salmonella Enteritidis in egg content and eggshell was 32.7% and 0.0% respectively and the difference in their prevalence was not statistically significant (P 21mm), 75% sensitive to gentamicin (zone of inhibition >15mm) and 50%to cotrimoxazole (zone of inhibition >16mm). The strains studied in terms of their antibiotic-resistant pattern could be classified into different groups based on the number of antibiotics they resisted. Even though six of the sixteen isolated displayed the presence of plasmid, one can envisage that other non-plasmids containing serovars demonstrating multi-drug resistance attributes have other means of antibiotics resistance other than the plasmid.