Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Salmonella from apparently healthy slaughtered cattle and abattoir workers at Gondar Elfora abattoir, Central Gondar Zone, Ethiopia.

Background: Salmonella, is among the leading cause of foodborne illnesses in humans, is primarily sourced from food-producing animals. The prevalence of multidrug-resistant Salmonella species has significantly increased in recent years.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2022 to May 2023 to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Salmonella in apparently healthy slaughtered cattle and abattoir personnel at Gondar Elfora abattoir. The study was conducted 253 samples in total, including 75 carcass swabs, 75 liver tissue samples, 75 intestinal contents samples, and 14 stool and 14 water samples from the slaughterhouse. Salmonella isolates were identified using standard isolation and identification techniques. Each isolate was also subjected to Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion tests for antimicrobial susceptibility. STATA version 14 was used to compute and analyses various data from slaughterhouses, antimicrobial susceptibility test results, and animal samples using descriptive statistics.

Results: The overall proportion of Salmonella positive isolates was 13.4%( 253/34) in difference sample sources. The prevalence of Salmonella in cattle was 12% (27/225), of which 17.3% were from carcass swabs, 10.7% were from liver tissue, 8% were from intestinal contents, 14.3% were from human stool, and 35.7% were from water samples. Salmonella isolates were resistant to antimicrobials with specific resistance rates 58.82% for cefoxitin (95%Rn: 42.28 - 75.37), 41.2% (95%Rn: 24.63 - 57.72) for ampicillin and 35.3% (95%Rn: 19.23 - 51.36) for tetracycline. Low resistance pattern was reported in chloramphenicol 17.65% and nalidixic acid 14.71%.

Conclusions: The study highlights the high prevalence of Antimicrobial-resistant Salmonella, a significant public health concern, emphasizing the need for effective surveillance, control measures, biosecurity, Mandatory abattoir worker training, and Antimicrobial stewardship in livestock.