Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of salmonellae isolated from eggs of local chicken in selected towns of Ethiopia

Abstract Background 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. Objective 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. Methods 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. Result 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. Conclusion 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.