Abstract:
The study determined the antimicrobial resistance profiles of Salmonella on chickens
processed and retailed at outlets of the informal markets in Gauteng province, South Africa. The
study also investigated the relationship of antimicrobial resistant Salmonella to the source and type
of samples and their serotypes. Carcass swabs, cloacal swabs and carcass drips were randomly
collected from each of 151 slaughtered chickens from six townships. Isolation and identification
were performed using standard and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. The disc diffusion
method was used to determine the resistance of Salmonella isolates to 16 antimicrobial agents and
PCR to determine their serovars. Ninety-eight (64.9%) of the 151 chickens were contaminated with
Salmonella of which 94.9% (93/98) were resistant serovars. The frequency of antimicrobial resistance
of Salmonella isolates was high to erythromycin (94.9%) and spectinomycin (82.7%) but was low to
ciprofloxacin (1.0%) and norfloxacin (1.0%) (p < 0.05). All 170 isolates of Salmonella tested exhibited
resistance to one or more antimicrobial agents and the frequency varied significantly (p < 0.05) across
the townships, the type of samples and the serovars. The prevalence of multidrug resistance (MDR)
in Salmonella was 81.8% (139/170). Our findings pose zoonotic, food safety and therapeutic risks to
workers and consumers of undercooked, contaminated chickens from these outlets.
