Isolation and prevalence of Salmonella from chicken meat and cattle milk collected from local markets of Patna, India

Aim: To evaluate the hygienic quality of raw chicken meat and raw milk sold in the local markets of Patna with reference to isolation of Salmonella and antibiotic resistance pattern of Salmonella against commonly used antibiotics. Materials and Methods: A total of 370 samples comprising of 228 chicken meat and 142 market milk samples were processed for isolation and serotyping, supplemented with molecular detection of isolates targeting invA gene of Salmonella. All the isolates were tested against commonly used antibiotics (13 nos). Results: Out of 370 samples, 23.7% (54/228) chicken meat and 7.7% (11/142) milk samples were found positive for Salmonella based on biochemical reactions. The serotyping of Salmonella isolates showed an incidence of 6.1% of Salmonella typhimurium, 2.6% of S. newport, 1.7% of S. gallinarum and 0.4% each of S. enteritidis, S. infantis and S. worthington in chicken meat; and 2.1% of S. typhimurium and 1.4% of S. newport in market milk samples. Polymerase chain reaction targeting invA gene showed positive presence of Salmonella in 18.42% chicken meat and 5.6% market milk samples. Conclusion: The antibiotic susceptibility test revealed the presence of multiple drug resistant Salmonella in chicken meat and milk. The present study indicates high prevalence of Salmonella in raw chicken meat and milk due to poor hygienic practices and therefore emphasizes the need for adopting these hygienic practices.