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Abstract

One of the major food-borne pathogens that causes gastroenteritis and typhoid is the species of Salmonella.This study investigated the prevalence and antibiogram of Salmonella species in marketed pork meat in Port Harcourt.One hundred and twenty (120) samples comprising fresh pork, roasted pork, wastewater, knife and table swabs were collected from different vendors in the Port Harcourt metropolis.Standard microbiological techniques were employed to isolate and identify Salmonella strains, and the susceptibility pattern were determined using disc diffusion methods.Total heterotrophic bacterial (THB), total Salmonella, Shigella, coliform and staphylococcal load of the pork ranged from 1.05±0.33 to 1.51±0.49×10 7, 3.7±0.46 to 7.4±0.89×10 4 , 0.85±0.11 to 1.8±0.27×10 5 , 2.0±1.12 to 7.8±5.1×10 5and 1.3±0.5 to 3.3±0.6×10 5CFU/g, respectively.Despite the observed differences in bacterial counts, there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the Salmonella and THB of the pork samples.The THB, total Salmonella, Shigella, coliform and staphylococcal load of the butcher table ranged from 1.0±0.3 to 1.8±0.2×10 7, 3.6±0.5 to 8.1±0.9×10 4 , 4.4±0.7 to 10.3±1.2×10 4 , 2.2±0.5 to 4.2±2.2×10 5 , and 1.3±0.8 to 2.4±0.6×10 5 CFU/m 2 , respectively.The THB, total Salmonella, Shigella, coliform and staphylococcal load of the knives ranged from 40.91±0.4 to 1.5±0.4×10 7, 1.4±0.2 to 5.4±0.6×10 4 , 2.7 ±0.3 to 8.1±0.8×10 4 , 1.1±0.6 to 2.2±1.1×10 5 and 1.0±0.7 to 1.5±1.2×10 5 CFU/m 2 , respectively, while the THB, total Salmonella, Shigella, coliform and staphylococcal load of the wastewater ranged from 0.99±0.28 to 1.3±0.7×107 , 6.0±0.6 to 9.3±0.5×10 4 , 7.6±0.8 to 14.3±1.6×10 4 , 2.7±1.7 to 4.2±3.4×10 5 and 1.4±0.4 to 3.8±2.2×10 5CFU/mL.No significant difference (p>0.05) was recorded in the Salmonella counts of all the wastewater samples, knives and Tables in all locations.Eighty-seven Salmonella isolates were identified.Results showed that pork meat samples from Rumuolumeni recorded the highest (20.7%)Salmonella prevalence while the least (5.7%) was from Iwofe locations.Salmonella spp from fresh pork samples displayed a higher virulence compared to those associated with the roasted pork samples.The multidrug resistance showed that 100% of the salmonella had a MAR index greater than 0.2.They were more susceptible to Levofloxacin (90.8%) and resistant to Amoxicilin Clavulanate (4.6%).The bacterial load in the pork meats were generally high with a high prevalence of Salmonella in both the fresh and roasted pork meat which can cause consumer diseases and act as vehicle for the transfer of antibiotic resistance gene in food.Thus, stringent measures are recommended in the processing and preparation of pork meat before consumption.