Isolation and serotyping of salmonella from slaughtered food animals in the Kumasi Metropolis

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2004-11-23
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Abstract
Diarrhoeal diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Ghana (Health Information Unit, M.O.H, Ghana 2003). Malaria, especially in children, the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the increasing multiple antibiotic resistance in the nontyphoidal Salmonella have come to worsen the already high fatality of salmonellosis. A high degree of ignorance, in the country, of the epidemiology of diarrhoeal diseases in general and salmonellosis in particular, especially in the food supply chain has also been observed (Mensah et al 1999). The lack of a national Salmonella control policy, and above all, failure to link human salmonellosis in the country to animal sources, despite evidence of human and animal carriers in our communities (Hughes 1958, Veros et al 1976), have sharply focused my attention on the epidemiological surveillance of salmonellosis. This exercise was conducted to determine the Salmonella types and carrier status of healthy domestic food animals in the Kumasi Metropolis, in line with an earlier recommendation for such organised surveys on community basis (Hughes 1958, Collard 1959). Mesenteric samples and caecal contents were examined from healthy slaughtered fifty (50) each of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs from the Kumasi Abattoir, and fowls from the KNUST Poultry Farm for Salmonella species using standard bacteriological culture, isolation, biochemical identification and Salmonella “0” antigenic typing techniques (Anon 1971, US Dept. of Air Force and the Army 1977, Mast Diagnostic Ltd 1995). Out of the 250 animals examined, Salmonella was isolated from 15 (6%) of them. The Salmonella “0” Groups and their prevalence in the animals studied are as follows: Fowls 7(2.8%): Group B 3(1.2%); Group G 1(0.4%) and Group H 3(1.2%); Pigs 6(2.4%): Group B 2(0.8%),Group E 2(1.2%) and Group H 1(0.4%); Sheep 2(0.8%): Group G 2(0.8%); Cattle (0); Goats (0), with Group B being the predominant group and fowls the most infected animal species followed by pigs. “H” antigens were not determined due to unavailability of antisera. Age rather than sex is an important factor in Salmonella infection in domestic animals. Mesenteric lymph nodes are important sources of Salmonella especially from healthy animals. Shigella was isolated from one sheep indicating that these animals are carriers of other important human pathogens. Multi- drug resistance was a common feature. All the isolates were resistant to tetracyclin, ampicillin, cotrimoxazole. chloramphenicol resistance was encountered in some group E and G from pigs and poultry, suggesting a possible abuse on the farm. All groups were however sensitive to amikacin and ciprofloxacin, which are more expensive than the above conventional drugs. Proper animal husbandry practices, good personal hygiene and environmental sanitation, and above all, regular Public health education are paramount in preventing Salmonella from reaching the vulnerable, such as children, the elderly and the sick in the society.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Community Health, School of Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science in Clinical Microbiology, 2004
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