Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella from roasted meat ("Suya") sold in federal capital territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Roasted meat (Suya) is a spicy traditional ready-to-eat stick meat produced mostly by the Hausas of the northern part of Nigeria. It is a major consumer’s fast-food sales along the streets, in clubs, houses, at picnics, parties, and restaurants. Salmonellosis is the most common foodborne infection caused by the genus Salmonella and a major public health concern worldwide. Antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella infections are one of the public health concerned responsible for increasing hospitalization rates, morbidity, and mortality due to the indiscriminate use of drugs; hence, the need to evaluate the antibiotic Susceptibility of the isolates. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and to assess antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of salmonella from roasted meat ("Suya") sold in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. A total of 200 samples of roasted meat (Suya) from beef were collected using simple random sampling techniques between August and November 2022 from four out of six area councils of FCT and were analyzed for total aerobic bacteria count and Salmonella isolation using microbiological phenotypic methods. The antimicrobial susceptibility was determined using a disk diffusion assay. The total aerobic count ranges from 5.0 × 10⁴ to 2.05 × 10⁶ CFU/ml, while the prevalence of Salmonella spp. was 7 (3.5 %). The antibiotic susceptibility test revealed that 14.3 % and 8.6 % of the isolates had susceptibility to ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin, respectively. However, non of the isolates was susceptible to streptomycin, augmentin, nalidixic acid, ampicillin, gentamicin, and septrin. The highest multiantibiotic resistance index (MARI) was 0.6, while the lowest MARI was 0.1. The highest multidrug resistance (MDR) recorded was 0.5, while the lowest MDR was 0.2. The detection of Salmonella spp. from Suya (“steak meat) in the FCT indicated a public health risk of spreading foodborne pathogens, and the MARI shows the potential burden of treatment.