Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Enterobacteriaceae Isolated from Street Dèguè in Abidjan District, Côte d’Ivoire

Background and Objective: Foods of animal origin are considered a major source of foodborne illness. Resistant Enterobacteriaceae strains pose a serious threat to public health due to the consumption of feed contaminated with antibiotics used to treat various bacterial infections in livestock. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance profil of Enterobacteriaceae strains isolated from dèguè (drink made from millet couscous and curdled milk) sold on the streets of the Abidjan district. Methods: A total of 160 samples of traditional dèguè were analyzed. The isolated strains were identified by classical bacteriology and identification method. They were subjected to an antibiogram by the Mueller-Hinton agar diffusion method according to the EUCAST-CASFM 2024_V1.0 recommendations and the resistance phenotype was based on their behavior in relation to the tested antibiotics. Results: On average, 54.4% of dairy product (dèguè) samples (87/160) were found contaminated with Klebsiella pneumoniae (25/87), Escherichia coli (21/87), Citrobacter koseri (21/87), Enterobacter aerogenes (19/87) and Salmonella spp (01/87) in almost all sampling areas of the Abidjan district. Antibiotic susceptibility testing showed the highest rates of resistance of isolates to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (69.4%), piperacillin (61.2%) (Yopougon), cefepime (34.2%), and pefloxacin (40%) in the Songon commune, and the lowest rates of resistance to ciprofloxacin and amikacin, all at a rate of 2%, and levofloxacin (4%), gentamicin (5.7%). A 3% rate of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase production was detected. Conclusion and Perspective: The high level of contamination caused by multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae strains poses a risk to public health and highlights the need for further research on the surveillance and control of pathogens present in dairy products.