Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Salmonella Isolated from Blood Cockles in Surat Thani Province, Thailand

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella in natural blood cockles from Surat Thani province. The research samples were collected from different areas over two seasons, dry and wet, in 2021. VIDAS® and VITEK® 2 compact systems were used for automated analysis. The results revealed that the prevalence of Salmonella was only found in the dry season, April (20%, 4 out of 20 samples) while all areas were not found Salmonella in the wet season. Antimicrobial resistance was evaluated in Salmonella strain isolated (n=8) and found that this pathogen was most frequently observed for amikacin (6/8, 75%), cefalotin (8/8, 100%), doxycycline (8/8, 100%), gentamicin (8/8, 100%) and tetracycline (8/8, 100%) with showed the minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) were ≥2, ≥2, ≥16, ≥1 and ≥16 µg/ml, respectively. The six isolates demonstrated multiple drug resistance (MDR). This study provided useful information for the assessment of the possible risk posed to consumers, which has a significant public health impact in Thailand.