Occurrence of Salmonella Species in Poultry Eggs and Their Susceptibilities to Antibiotics

The study on the occurrence of Salmonella species in poultry eggs and their susceptibilities to antibiotics was conducted. A total of thirty (30) poultry eggs samples were collected from three (3) poultry farms (A, B and C) in Gwagwalada. The antibiogram was carried out using commercially made sensitivity disc. The eggshell recorded the highest bacterial load of 1.8x104±0.1CFU/ml while the egg content had bacterial load of 1.5x102±0.2 CFU/ml as its highest. Out fourteen (14) Salmonella spp isolated from the poultry eggs, six (6) were isolated from Farm B, five (5) from Farm A while three (3) were isolated from Farm C. However total number isolates in this study showed that Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium were 8 while Salmonella enterica serovars Enteritidis were six. Eleven (11) Salmonella spp were recorded in eggshell while only three (3) were recorded in the egg content. Salmonella enterica serovars Typhimurium was the most frequently isolated which represented 57.14% while Salmonella enterica serovars Enteritidis represented 42.86 % of the total isolates. The Salmonella species isolated from all the samples showed varying levels of susceptibility and resistance to the tested antibiotics. Salmonella Typhimurium was susceptible to cefoxitin, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin and gentamicin but resistant to ampicillin, tarivid and nalidixic acid. Also, Salmonella Enteritidis was susceptible to chloramphenicol, cefoxitin, ampicillin, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin and gentamicin but resistant to tarivid and nalidixic acid. This study revealed the presence of Salmonella serovars on eggs surfaces and egg content with potential antimicrobial-resistant traits. Therefore, it is recommended that preparation of eggs for domestic use should be handled with extreme care.