%0 Journal Article
%T Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of salmonellae isolated from eggs of local chicken in selected towns of Ethiopia.
%A Tadesse B
%A Ali DA
%J Vet Med Sci
%V 10
%N 4
%D 2024 Jul
%M 38946179
%F 1.772
%R 10.1002/vms3.1529
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Salmonellosis is one of the most common food-borne diseases in industrialised and developing countries. In recent year, an increase in antimicrobial resistance among different Salmonella serotypes has been observed.<BR><B>OBJECTIVE: </B>A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility of Salmonella isolated from local chicken eggs in four selected towns in Ethiopia.<BR><B>METHODS: </B>A total of 115 eggs were examined to detect Salmonella by using standard microbiological methods. The susceptibilities of the isolates to nine antimicrobials were tested by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>The study revealed that of the 115 eggs examined, 22 (19.1%) were positive for Salmonella of which 14 (12.2%) and 8 (7%) of the isolates were from shells and contents, respectively. The occurrence of Salmonella in egg shells and content and between different altitudes did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). Most isolates were resistant to more than three antimicrobials with a high resistance to kanamycin, ampicillin, nalidixic acid, cotrimoxazole, oxytetracycline and chloramphenicol.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>The results indicate the potential importance of local chicken eggs as source of multiple antimicrobial-resistant salmonellae and the need for proper cooking before consumption. Further studies are required to describe the epidemiology of Salmonella in various agroclimatic zones of Ethiopia.