Multiple contaminations of chickens with Campylobacter, Escherichia coli and Salmonella in Yaounde (Cameroon).

INTRODUCTION: Food-borne diseases associated with Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella are mainly caused by the consumption of raw or undercooked poultry meat. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella in chickens. METHODOLOGY: One hundred and fifty chickens collected from eight retail markets in Yaounde were examined for the presence of Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella using standard bacteriological procedures. RESULTS: Of the 150 chickens collected, 135 (90%) were contaminated with Campylobacter (68.9% C. coli and 31.1% C. jejuni). All the chickens were positive for E. coli. Among the 150 isolates, 17 (11.3%) were enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). Additionally, 103 Salmonella strains were recovered from 90 chickens. Salmonella Enteritidis (45.6%) and Salmonella Hadar (28.1%) were the most frequent serotypes. Multiple contamination was found in 142 chickens (94.6%), of which 83 (55.3%) were concurrently contaminated with Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella. CONCLUSION: These results show that chickens in Cameroon are highly contaminated with Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella. The multiple contaminations of chickens is a potential risk of infection for consumers and highlights the necessity of public awareness for food safety.

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella serotypes in chickens from retail markets in Yaounde (Cameroon).

From February 2006 to January 2007, 150 chickens were collected from eight retail markets in Yaounde, and 90 (60%) tested positive for Salmonella. Seventy-nine chickens were contaminated with only one Salmonella serotype, 10 with two different serotypes, and 1 with four serotypes. The most prevalent serotypes were Enteritidis (47 strains) and Hadar (29 strains). The isolates were tested for their susceptibilities to amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, cefoxitin, cefotaxime, gentamicin, streptomycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, sulfonamides, nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethazole by disk diffusion assay. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline, sulfonamides, and nalidixic acid were determined for the resistant strains by agar dilution method. Eleven isolates (10.7%) of the 103 tested were susceptible to all antimicrobials. Resistance was most observed to tetracycline (84.5%), streptomycin (44.7%), and nalidixic acid (34%). Forty-one isolates (39.8%) were multidrug resistant (resistant to three or more antimicrobials from different classes), of which 68.3% were Hadar and 21.9% Enteritidis. The most frequent resistant pattern in Hadar was streptomycin-tetracycline-nalidixic acid. These results highlight once more the need for surveillance of Salmonella contamination in poultry.