Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella serotypes isolated from retail chicken meat and giblets in Iran.

Introduction: Salmonella is one of the major foodborne pathogens responsible for outbreaks of foodborne illness in humans worldwide.
Methodology: A total of 560 samples of chicken meat and giblets were collected from retail markets for Salmonella identification, serotyping, and antimicrobial resistance testing.
Results: Salmonella was detected in 19.8% of samples. Among the five serotypes identified, S. Thompson was the predominant type (48.7%). High antimicrobial resistance rates were observed to nalidixic acid (92.8%), tetracycline (81%), trimethoprim (68.4%), sulfamethoxazole / trimethoprim (61.2%), streptomycin (56.7%), and kanamycin (36.9%). Although resistance to chloramphenicol (3.6%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (5.4%), and ampicillin (11.7%) was detected, none of the isolates were resistant to ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, ciprofloxacin, colistin, gentamicin, nor imipenem.
Conclusions: Restrictions on the irrational use of antibiotics in humans and animals are suggested for the reduction of resistant strains.