Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Salmonella isolates in the mesenteric lymph nodes of apparently healthy slaughtered food animals at Maiduguri central abattoir, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 154 lymph nodes (cattle-54, camel-22, sheep-12, goats-66) were collected from slaughtered animals and analysed using standard microbiological and biochemical methods. Results: An overall prevalence of 39.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 31.3–46.7] was obtained. The prevalence rate across studied species ranged from 24.2% (95% CI: 13.9–34.5) in goats to 61.1% (95% CI: 48.1–74.1) in cattle. There was statistically significant association between Salmonella infection and species of food animals (P < 0.05). Males had a high prevalence of 44.7% (95% CI: 28.9–60.5) as compared with females (37.1%; 95% CI: 28.3– 45.9) (P > 0.05). Younger animals had slightly higher prevalence (44.0%; 95% CI: 24.5–63.5) compared with adults (38.0%; 95% CI: 29.6–46.4) (P > 0.05). All isolates showed marked susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, cotrimoxazole and chloramphenicol. Whereas, high resistance patterns to ampicillin, kanamycin and streptomycin, and moderate resistance patterns to kanamycin and tetracycline were observed from camels. Conclusions: Salmonella is high in the mesenteric lymph nodes of apparently healthy slaughtered food animals in Maiduguri. Therefore, it is recommended that further studies should be carried out to identify the serotypes and phage typing of the isolates, and hazard analysis and critical control point should be applied in handling of meat and meat products to avoid the risk of foodborne salmonellosis as well as appropriate use of antibiotics like ciprofloxacin in food animals.

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