Pharmaceutica Analytica Acta

Abstract

Prevalence and Antibiogram Study of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in Turkey Meat in Morocco

El Allaoui Abdellah, Rhazi Filali Fouzia and Oumokhtar Bouchra

This study presents a survey of the microbiological quality of turkey meat sold in various outlets in Meknes city of Morocco and examines antimicrobial resistance of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli strains isolated to warn customers about the emergence of food poisoning. 96 samples randomly taken on different outlets, including 24 at the popular market, 24 at artisanal slaughterhouses, 24 at poulterers’ shops and 24 at supermarket. According to the microbiological criteria, 83.3% of samples did not meet the standards for E. coli. 95.8%, 33.3%, 41.6%, 41.6% of the samples purchased from supermarket, poulterers’ shops, artisanal slaughterhouses and popular market outlets, respectively, showed satisfactory quality point of view S. aureus among which 8.3% (8/96) of samples could be linked to a foodborne due to a concentration of S. aureus upper in 5 log10 υfc/g. The level of contamination E. coli and S. aureus at supermarket was recorded significantly lower (p<0.05) compared to other sites.
Among the 40 E. coli tested, the highest resistance was to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (80%), followed by norfloxacin (67.5%), cephalothin (65%), nalidixic acid (62.5%), ampicillin (52%), trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole (42.5%), ciprofloxacin (40%), cefoxitin (35%), ceftazidime (32.5%) and amikacin (15%). Low resistance rates were returned (between 5 and 12.5%) for ertapenem, aztreonam and gentamicin. For S. aureus, the highest percentage of resistance was found to the following antimicrobial agents: teicoplanin (67.5%), tetracyclin (40%) and vancomycin (30%). No resistance to the rest of antibiotics was found.
The bacterial load present on the surface of poultry carcasses reflects the general hygiene conditions in which they are prepared, stored, transported and sold. These data revealed also that the E. coli and S. aureus isolates recovered from the retail turkey meats were resistant to multiple antimicrobials, which can be transmitted to humans through food products.