Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and Antimicrobial Drug Residues in Chicken Liver its Antibiogram Analysis and Implications on Public Health.

Chicken is a primary source of food worldwide. Ensuring food safety and preserving public health is crucial, and chicken meat inspection plays a critical role in achieving this goal. The transfer of pathogenic bacteria from animal intestines to carcasses during processing, and subsequently from meat products to consumers, is a significant contributor to the growing incidence of resistance and foodborne illnesses. This study aimed to examine the antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus present in chicken liver. Fifty samples of chicken liver were collected from various areas of Peshawar and screened for resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The bacteria were tested against different antibiotics, including Moxifloxacin, Vancomycin, Linezolid, Gentamycin, and Clindamycin. Gentamycin demonstrated the highest susceptibility against the maximum bacterial isolates, with 100% susceptibility as its P-value was less than 0.05. Other antibiotics showed effective results. Linezolid was 66.7% susceptible. Both vancomycin and Clindamycin were 41.6% susceptible, while Moxifloxacin was 33.3% susceptible. This study concludes that Staphylococcus aureus isolated from chicken liver has the potential to cause multiple diseases. The screened pathogens were not only resistant to single antibiotics but also showed resistance to multiple antibiotics. The cut-off values of the isolates were two folds higher than those reported in CLSI 2023. The findings highlight the need for effective measures to control the spread of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and to ensure food safety.