Antimicrobial Resistance Profiling of Pathogens from Cooked Donkey Meat Products in Beijing Area in One Health Context

The prevalence of foodborne diseases has raised concerns due to the potential transmission of zoonotic bacterial pathogens through meat products. The objective of this study was to determine the occurrence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of pathogenic bacteria in cooked donkey meat products from Beijing. Twenty-one cooked donkey meat samples were collected from different delis, subjected to homogenization, and analyzed for bacterial contamination. Molecular identification was performed through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing targeting the 16S rDNA gene. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was evaluated using the disk diffusion method. A total of forty bacterial isolates were identified, with <i>Proteus mirabilis</i> being the predominant species, followed by <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> and <i>Novosphingobium</i>. Both <i>Proteus mirabilis</i> and <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i> exhibited high levels of resistance to several antibiotics, including penicillin, ampicillin, and erythromycin. This study's findings underscore the public health risk posed by antimicrobial-resistant foodborne pathogens and emphasize the necessity for enhanced food safety surveillance within the One Health context.