Detection of Bacteria Secreting Toxins in Shawarma and Their Sensitivity to Antibiotics Using VITEK

A total of 200 of chicken and beef shawarma sandwiches (100 for each group) were collected from several restaurants in El Menofiya Governorate to analyze the prevalence of E. coli, S. aureus, and Salmonellae spp. It was 15%, 21% and 14% for chicken shawarma sandwiches, respectively while, it was 21%, 30% and 9% for beef shawarma sandwiches, respectively. The chicken shawarma samples showed a higher acceptability rate based on the presence of E. coli and S. aureus. The study also detected a number of serotypes of E. coli EHEC (O26: H11, O103: H2 andO117: H4), ETEC (O127: H6) and EPEC (O146: H21) has been detected and Salmonellae serotypes were S. typhimurium, S. infantis, S. montevideo and S. enteritidis. In the examined samples the isolates produced toxins was genetically tested by PCR to detect genes that encode for enterotoxin production. Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing (AST) of isolated strains by VITEK revealed that the pathogenic strains of E. coli and S. aureus showed resistance to several antibiotics, while non-pathogenic strains showed sensitivity to most antibiotics. Salmonella spp. was sensitive to most tested antibiotics, except for Cefalotin and Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole. The study provides information on the incidence of harmful microbes in shawarma sandwiches and their antibiotic sensitivity, which can help in improving food safety measures.