Antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from local and imported ground meat

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, food borne illness is often associated with consumption of meat sold at retail markets. A study on the bacteriological status of local and imported ground meat was carried out to determine antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from local and imported ground meat. Methodology: A total of 280 samples of local and imported chilled ground meat, were collected from different retail supermarkets in Buraydah City, Saudi Arabia. The samples were examined for the presence of bacterial contaminants using standard microbiological isolation and identification procedures by Mass Peptide Fingerprinting technique, with antimicrobial susceptibility test performed using the Microscan Walkaway System. In addition, isolated strains of Staphylococcus aureus were identified by using the qPCR System for identifying the nuc and mecA genes as well as for the fliC of the Escherichia coli. Results: Out of 280 chilled ground meat samples, 40.33% were harboured S. aureus, 36.13% E. coli, 7.56% Hafnia alvei, 6.72% Pseudomonas spp., 5.88% Salmonella spp. and 3.36% Aeromonas spp. while a large number of bacteria were isolated from imported beef 34.45% and mutton 42%. All S. aureus strains (100%) were resistant to beta‐lactam penicillins (ampicillin), beta‐lactam/beta‐lactam inhibitors (amoxicillin-clavulanic acid), 1 st generation cephalosporins (cephalothin) and quinolone (nalidixic acid). A total of 87.5%, 39.6%, 39.6%, 31.2%, 22.9% and 12.5% of S. aureus isolates were resistant to 4th generation cephalosporins (cefepime), beta-lactam penicillins (piperacillin), 2 nd generation cephalosporins (cefoxitin), norfloxacin (fluoroquinolone), ciprofloxacin (fluoroquinolone) and tetracyclines (tetracycline) respectively. Likewise, concerning the E. coli strains, the percentage of resistance was 100% for beta-lactam penicillins (ampicillin), beta-lactam/beta-lactam inhibitors (amoxicillin-clavulonic acid), 1st generation cephalosporins (cephalothin) and 2 nd generation cephalosporins (cefoxitin). In contrast, all strains of E. coli appeared strongly activity (100%) against sulfonamides (cotrimoxazole) and carbapenem (imipenem). Moreover, 58.1% and 53.5% of E. coli strains were susceptible to nitrobenzenes (chloramphicol) and quinolone (nalidixic acid), respectively. In contrast, the sensitivity of S. aureus was 100% for carbapenem (imipenem), 58.3% for Sulfonamides (Cotrimoxazole) and 41.7% for Nitrobenzenes (Chloramphenicol). Conclusion: The bacteriological status of imported chilled ground meat revealed variable degrees of contamination with S. aureus and E. coli. The study also demonstrated that the isolated bacteria from imported ground meat resist a large number of antibiotics more than local ground meat. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk represented by zoonotic agents to the consumer health, it is necessary to avoid the contamination of the carcasses during the slaughter and transportation operations. Consequently, maintaining the conditions of slaughtering and marketing them to keep the quality of preserving them is therefore of great importance for meat production.