Antibiotic resistance pattern of bacteria isolated from abattoir table at Amansea Market, Awka

Food borne pathogens are a significant source of illness, sometimes with severe and fatal outcomes, thus consequently leading to a considerable expenditure of money on medical management. Food handlers, equipment and the environment serve as the primary sources for meat contamination. The current study aimed to isolate bacteria from the abattoir tables at Amansea market and to determine the antimicrobial resistance pattern of isolated pathogens which are responsible for various foodborne illnesses in human beings. A total of five raw animal product samples were collected from the abattoir and butcher shops. The samples selected for the study include raw chicken and meat. A classic random sampling technique was employed to collect the study samples. All the samples were processed immediately using standard microbiological protocols. The bacteria isolation and characterization were done by studying morphological characteristics with staining methods, cultural characteristics by isolating and growing the pathogenic microorganisms in various selective and differential culture media. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by the Kirby-Bauer method by following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. From the result, the highest number of isolates belong to Staphylococcus aureus (9), Escherichia coli (8) followed by Proteus mirabilis (6) and Klebsiella pneumonia (5) with a few isolates belonging to Enterobacter species (4). Majority of the microbial isolates obtained in the current study were multidrug resistant. The isolates from the abattoir environments, slaughterhouses, fish markets were found to exhibit variable resistance pattern to aminoglycosides, macrolides, β-lactams, cephalosporins, quinolone antibiotics used in the present study and at the same time most of them were sensitive to carbapenem antibiotic imipenem. From the research, it was inferred that these tables contain large amounts of multidrug resistant bacteria that could impact on public health of humans, especially the abattoir workers and residents around the abattoir. There is need for sensitization of these food and meat handlers on the risks associated with their unhygienic practices.