Prevalence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Salmonella among Food and Food Vendors in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Salmonella contamination in ready-to-eat food is seen as a health risk, and improper food processing puts customers at risk. This study therefore was carried out to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Salmonella isolated from food vendor’s hands and work bench in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Ninety (90) samples were collected for a period of three months from three different location in Port Harcourt with five sampling points in each locations. Samples were analyzed for the presence of Salmonella organism using standard microbiological procedure for enumeration and identification. Salmonella-Shigella (SSC) counts ranged from 1.9+4.9x103cfu/g to 3.8+1.4x103cfu/g for choba and Aggrey road respectively in cooked rice, 0.2+0.3x103cfu/g to 0.9+0.4x103cfu/g for Mile 3 and Aggrey road respectively in Moi Moi, 0.6+0.5x103cfu/g to 1.5+1.5x103cfu/g for Aggrey road and Mile 3 in Salad, and 1.6+0.7x103cfu/ml to 2.6+1.7x103cfu/ml for Choba and Aggrey road in Egusi soup. Six (6) Salmonella spp were isolated in Salad and workbench from Mile 3 and Choba respectively. Salmonella showed a decreasing trend of resistance in the order: Ceporex, Gentamycin and Augmentin (100%) > Nalidixic acid (83.3%) > Septrin and Streptomycin (66.7%) > Tarivid, Pefloxacin and Ampicilin (33.3%). The molecular identification of the Six (6) isolates using polymerase chain reaction confirmed 100% Salmonella spp isolates. The six (6) Salmonella isolates were identified with blaTEM and blaSHV gene 6(100%). Out of the Six (6) isolates, 100% had multidrug resistance index ≥ 0.2 while 0.00% had <0.2 as their Multidrug Resistance Index. Conclusively, this study revealed prevalence of Salmonella spp in food and food vendors in Rivers State, posing a serious threat to consumers. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics should be discouraged to reduce the prevalence of resistant strains of Salmonella.