Evaluation of Bacterial Load and Antibiotic Resistance Pattern of Staphylococcus aureus from Ready-to-Eat Raw Beef in Bahir Dar City
Abstract Background Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important causes of foodborne intoxication and most frequent antibiotic resistant pathogen in the world. Regular evaluation of the current safety status of food is a pro-active measure to minimize the possible danger of foodborne pathogens. Therefore, this study was conducted on to assess the bacterial load and antibiotic resistance profile of S. aureus from ready-to-eat raw beef in Bahir Dar city. Methodology This cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2018 to April 2019 by collecting a total 101 raw beef samples from butcher shops using simple random sampling method. Isolation and microbial load determination of S. aureus using was performed conventional culture method as well as antibiotic susceptibility test was conducted by using Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method on Mueller-Hinton agar. The data were analyzed by using STATA software version 12.0. Result Out of 101 raw beef samples, 55 (54.45%) were positive for S. aureus with mean bacterial count of 3.40±0.63(log10cfu/g). About 13% of butcher shops had unacceptable and potentially dangerous (above 104cfu/g) bacterial load. High S. aureus drug resistance were observed on penicillin (92.73%) followed by cefoxitin (74.5%), tetracycline (63.63%), clindamycin (50.9%). On the other hand there were highest susceptibility for ciprofloxacin (100%) followed by gentamycin (90.91%) and erythromycin (87.27%). Multi-drug resistance was also found in 54 (98%) of the isolates. Conclusion In this study highly drug resistant S. aureus was a major meat contaminant in butcheries of Bahir Dar city. Therefore, appropriate antimicrobial use and staphylococcal control methods should be employed to prevent S. aureus intoxications in foods.