Open Journal of Medical Microbiology, 2015, 5, 113-117

Published Online September 2015 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojmm

http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojmm.2015.53014

Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance of

Salmonella spp. in Turkey
Mohammad Jahantigh1*, Seyede Maryam Jafari2, Ahmad Rashki3, Saeed Salari3
1
Department of Poultry Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran
2
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran
3
Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran
*
Email: mjahantig@yahoo.com

Received 18 July 2015; accepted 28 August 2015; published 31 August 2015

Copyright © 2015 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract
The current study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in turkey and to
determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern of the isolated Salmonellae. Two hundred and fifty
turkeys were randomly selected for cloacal soab samples preparation, and the samples were in-
vestigated for Salmonella isolation. Identification of the isolated Salmonella was performed using
standard bacteriological and biochemical procedures. The prevalence of Salmonella in turkey was
about 14.8%. Disc diffusion tests on Muller-Hinton agar were used to determine the sensitivity to
antibacterial agents. Ten antibiotics were studied: lincospectin, colistin, cephalexin, ciprofloxacin,
chloramphenicol, gentamycin, furazolidone, streptomycin, co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim-sulfam-
ethoxazole) and tetracycline. The highest resistant was observed against cephalexin (89.2%), te-
tracycline (86.5%), colistin (83.8%), and furazolidone (73%). The Highest sensitivity was found to
gentamycin (86.5%), ciprofloxacin (83.8%), chloramphenicol (51.4%) and streptomycin (40.6%).
The results showed high prevalence of Salmonella spp. in turkey and high levels of antimicrobial
resistance pattern of the isolated Salmonellae were observed.

Keywords
Antibiotic Resistance, Prevalence, Salmonella, Turkey

1. Introduction
Salmonellosis is one of the common diseases in all places. Unhygienic farm condition is major predisposing
factor for cause of this disease. Some of the diseases of Salmonella are transmissible from man to birds. In the
*
Corresponding author.

How to cite this paper: Jahantigh, M., Jafari, S.M., Rashki, A. and Salari, S. (2015) Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance of
Salmonella spp. in Turkey. Open Journal of Medical Microbiology, 5, 113-117. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojmm.2015.53014
M. Jahantigh et al.

Salmonellosis, transmission of diseases to human beings is an important criteria rather than drop in production
in the farm [1]. Infections with bacteria of the genus Salmonella are responsible for a variety of acute and
chronic diseases in poultry. Infected poultry flocks are also among the most important reservoirs of Salmonellae
that can be transmitted through the food chain to humans [2]. Salmonella is a genus of bacterium that is a major
cause of foodborne illness throughout the world. The main reservoirs of Salmonella are considered to be domes-
tic animals, poultry and pigs in particular and Salmonella organisms are easily isolated from faeces [3]. These
carrier animals likely play a significant role in the spread of infection between herds and flocks and conse-
quently serve as sources of food contamination and human infection [4]. Salmonella spp. is routinely detected in
clinical, food and environmental samples using microbiological culture after an enrichment step [5]. Resistance
to antibacterial drugs is an increasingly important problem in both humans and animals. The widespread, some-
times indiscriminate, use of these drugs results in the selection of bacteria which are inherently resistant. Not
only may these resistant bacteria become the predominant species in a population but they may also transfer ge-
netic material to susceptible bacteria which then acquire resistance [6]. The spread of antibiotic resistances
through the food chain remains a relevant question for both researchers and public health operators.
In Iran there are no reports regarding the prevalence of Salmonellae in turkey flocks and its antibacterial re-
sistance. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the prevalence of Salmonella spp. in turkey
flocks and to characterize the antimicrobial resistance of the isolated Salmonella.

2. Methodology
2.1. Sample Collection
Cloacal soab samples were prepared from 250 randomly selected turkeys and the soabs were transferred to the
laboratory of microbiology of Zabol University and were investigated for the presence of Salmonella.

2.2. Culture and Isolation

For Salmonella isolation, the primary enrichment of samples in Selenite—F at 37˚C for 24 hours was followed
by subculture on Salmonella-Shigella agar and the plates were incubated at 37˚C for 24 hours. The plates were
observed for colony formation after 24 - 48 hours of incubation. Pure cultures were prepared from Salmonella
like colonies and were used for identification of the organisms by bacteriological methods as described previ-
ously by Quinn et al. (2002) and Swayne et al. (1998) [7] [8].

2.3. Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing

For determination of susceptibility to antibacterial agents, the disc diffusion method on Muller-Hinton agar was
used. The following antimicrobial agents were tested: co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) (1.25/
23.75 μg), colistin (10 μg), cephalexin (30 μg), ciprofloxacin (5 μg), chloramphenicol (30 μg), gentamycin (10
μg), furazolidone (100 μg), streptomycin (10 μg), lincospectin (15/200 μg) and tetracycline (30 μg). All antibac-
terial disks were provided from Padtan Teb Company (Tehran, Iran). Following the application of antimicrobial
discs, the plates were incubated at 37˚C for 24 hours. The diameters of the zones of inhibition were measured
(millimetres) and were compared to internationally accepted measurements to determine the susceptibility or re-
sistance of the isolate [9]. Drug resistance patterns of the organisms were determined at three levels: Susceptible
(S), Intermediate (I) and Resistant (R). The numbers of isolates of Salmonella which showed S, I and R patterns
were determined. The percentages of antimicrobial resistance of each pattern (S, I and R) of isolates were calcu-
lated and reported as the results.

3. Results
Bacteriological studies showed the prevalence of Salmonella in turkey flocks about 14.8%. The results showed
high levels of antimicrobial resistance pattern of the isolated Salmonellae. The highest resistance to cephalexin
(89.2%) and followed resistance to tetracycline (86.5%), colistin (83.8%), furazolidone (73%), co-trimoxazole
(67.6%), lincospectin (59.6%), streptomycin (43.2%), chloramphenicol (40.5%), gentamycin (5.4%) and ciprof-
loxacin (2.7%) were observed. The rates of susceptibility were against gentamycin (86.5%), ciprofloxacin
(83.8%), chloramphenicol (51.4%), streptomycin (40.6%), lincospectin (29.7%), furazolidone and co-trimoxa-

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zole (13.5%), cephalexin (10.8%), tetracycline (5.4%) and colistin (0%). Antibacterial resistances pattern of
isolated Salmonellae are shown in Table 1 and Table 2.

4. Discussion
In the present study, 14.8% of turkeys were Salmonella positive, but another study in Iran reported that preva-
lence of Salmonella in sample of turkeys’ liver and heart was 8.6% and in turkeys’ meat was 6.7% [10] [11]. In
one study conducted in Austria, only one Salmonella isolate was recovered from 262 turkey meat samples [12].
Since Salmonellosis is transmitted primarily through food, particularly food of animal origin, therefore, we
recommend more restrictions on the irrational use of antibiotics and public awareness activities should be un-
dertaken to alert the public to the risks of the unnecessary use of antibiotics [10].
Among antibiotics used in this study, the highest resistant was observed against cephalexin (89.2%), tetracyc-
line (86.5%), colistin (83.8%), and furazolidone (73%). High prevalence of resistance could be related to uncon-
trolled use of these antimicrobial agents in the treatment of bacterial infection. Besides, the highest sensitivity
was found to gentamycin (86.5%), ciprofloxacin (83.8%), chloramphenicol (51.4%) and streptomycin (40.6%).
The high sensitivity of the isolated Salmonella to the mentioned antibiotics could be related to less frequent
usage of these drugs for therapeutic purposes, therefore reducing the chance for resistance to develop.
Jahantigh and Nili (2010) investigated drug resistance to Salmonella spp. isolated from pigeon eggs in Iran.
Resistance to antibacterial drugs were tetracycline (50%), ampicillin, cephalexin and furazolidone (25%). No re-
sistance was observed against colistin, ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, gentamycin, nalidixic acid and norflox-
acin [13]. Antibiotic resistance pattern of S. typhimurium isolated from dead-in-shell chicken embryo in Iran was
10% for tetracycine, chloramphenicol, furazolidone and cephalexin [14]. Drug resistance of Salmonella spp.
from human and different animal sources has been a matter of concern and investigated by numerous authors
[15]-[19].

5. Conclusion
As animals are a main reservoir of Salmonella and the use of antimicrobials in food animals for therapy, pro-
phylaxis and growth promotion accelerate the emergence of antimicrobial resistant pathogens, it is not surprising
that an increased number of human Salmonellosis cases are caused by foodborne antimicrobial resistant Salmonella

Table 1. The numbers of antibacterial resistance patterns of Salmonella spp. isolated from turkey.

Antibacterial agent
Results S10 CL30 CL10 CP C GM FR SXT LP TE
S (n) 15 4 0 31 19 32 5 5 11 2
I (n) 6 0 6 5 3 3 5 7 4 3
R (n) 16 33 31 1 15 2 27 25 22 32
Total (n) 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37 37

S10: streptomycin, CL30: cephalexin, CL10: colistin, CP: ciprofloxacin, C: chloramphenicol, GM: gentamycin, FR: furazolidone, SXT: co-trimo-
xazole, LP: lincospectin, TE: tetracycline, S: Susceptible, I: Intermediate, R: Resistant.

Table 2. The percent of antibacterial resistance patterns of Salmonella spp. isolated from turkey.

Antibacterial agent
Results S10 CL30 CL10 CP C GM FR SXT LP TE
S (%) 40.6 10.8 0 83.8 51.4 86.5 13.5 13.5 29.7 5.4
I (%) 16.2 0 16.2 13.5 8.1 8.1 13.5 18.9 10.8 8.1
R (%) 43.2 89.2 83.8 2.7 40.5 5.4 73 67.6 59.5 86.5
Total (%) 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
S10: streptomycin, CL30: cephalexin, CL10: colistin, CP: ciprofloxacin, C: chloramphenicol, GM: gentamycin, FR: furazolidone, SXT: co-trimo-
xazole, LP: lincospectin, TE: tetracycline, S: Susceptible, I: Intermediate, R: Resistant.

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[20]. According to the results of this study turkeys may have an important role to dispread Salmonella in the en-
vironment. Due to high incidence of drug resistance among Salmonella spp. isolated from turkeys, it could con-
clude that antibiotic resistance can be resulted from unusual use of antibiotics.

6. Recommendations
Effort is need to control Salmonellosis in poultry flocks to reduce the threat of this organism for public health.
Besides, care must be taken in the use of antibiotics to reduce drug resistant strains of Salmonella. Antibiotic re-
sistance could be prevented with antibiogram test before drug administration or by avoiding incorrect use of an-
tibiotics in food animals.

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