A pilot study on occurrence of multidrug resistant E. coli and Salmonella in retail meat

This pilot study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of Enterobacteriacae members in fresh meat samples collected from randomly selected vendors in Dubai, UAE. E. coli (23%) and Salmonella (21%) were the most common contaminants found among the isolates from 30 meat samples. Further antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were determined and assessed for potential public health risk. All E. coli isolates were susceptible to amikacin, ceftizoxime, ciprofloxacin and trimethoprim antimicrobials and all Salmonella isolates were susceptible to amikacin, chloramphenicol, carbenicillinand ciprofloxacin antimicrobials. However, all E.coli and Salmonella isolates were resistant to four or more antimicrobials and are thus multidrug resistant (MDR). Among these, atleast two isolates of E.coli and Salmonella were resistant to 10 or more antimicrobial agents. It is observed that E.coli and Salmonella were resistant to 4 and 5 antimicrobial drugs, respectively, that fall into category I of very high importance in human healthaccording to federal department of Health Canada. This pilot study demonstrated that fresh meat,when miss-handled and not properly cooked, is a potential source of multidrug resistant enterobacteria. Further studies involving larger sample size over time are needed to assess the trend and occurrence in antimicrobial susceptibilities of enterobacteria in retail meat.