Exploring Staphylococcus aureus Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance in Ready-to-Eat Meat Products in Kabul City

The current study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and its antibiotic resistance profile in ready-to-eat meat and meat products of animal origin in various locations within Kabul City, Afghanistan. A total of 120 meat and meat product samples were collected from six locations in Kabul City from January to May 2023. These products were tested in the laboratory using culture, Gram’s staining and conventional biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the disk diffusion method. Out of the 120 samples tested, only 16 samples presented S. aureus. Chapli kebab and liver kebab were among the foods with the highest prevalence. The results of the antimicrobial susceptibility test revealed the highest resistance to chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin followed by tetracycline. Half of the isolates were multidrug-resistant and 5 multidrug-resistant S. aureus turned out to be methicillin-resistant. The study revealed that contamination of ready-to-eat animal-origin foods with S. aureus is a concern. Foodborne diseases caused by microbiological agents pose significant challenges for developing countries such as Afghanistan, which is a public health problem.