Prevalence, antibiotic resistance, and extended-spectrum and AmpC β-lactamase productivity of Salmonella isolates from raw meat and seafood samples in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Salmonellosis is a type of foodborne disease caused by Salmonella enterica and is a frequent cause of childhood diarrhea in Vietnam. Of particular concern is the dissemination of multidrug-resistant Salmonella, as extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-positive isolates were recently detected in children in Vietnam. In the present study, the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella isolates obtained from 409 raw meat and seafood samples collected between October 2012 and March 2015 from slaughterhouses, wholesale fish market, and retail markets in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam were examined. A high rate of Salmonella contamination was detected in the pork (69.7%), poultry (65.3%), beef (58.3%), shrimp (49.1%), and farmed freshwater fish samples (36.6%). A total of 53 Salmonella serovars were found, of which S. Rissen, S. Weltevreden, S. London, S. Anatum, S. Typhimurium, and S. Corvallis were the most prevalent. In addition, 4 monophasic S. Typhimurium strains were identified using a PCR method for the detection of a specific IS200 fragment within the fliB-fliA intergenic region. The Salmonella isolates had a high prevalence (62.2%) of resistance to antimicrobial agents, particularly tetracycline (53.3%), ampicillin (43.8%), chloramphenicol (37.5%), and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (31.3%). Isolates with resistance to three or more classes of antimicrobials were found (41.1%). Especially, isolates such as S. monophasic Typhimurium, S. Schwarzengrund, S. Indiana, S. Newport, S. Saintpaul and S. Bovismorbificans exhibited resistance to 6 classes of antimicrobials (3.3%). All 7 S. Indiana strains were resistant to between 4 and 6 classes of antimicrobials, including ciprofloxacin, which is commonly used for the treatment of human Salmonella infections. Two fish isolates were confirmed to be CTX-M-55 ESBL-producing Salmonella serovars Bovismorbificans and Newport, and five CMY-2 AmpC-producing Salmonella isolates of serovars Braenderup (4) and Typhimurium (1) were detected in poultry samples. The findings from this study, which is the first report of ESBL- and AmpC-producing Salmonella isolates from food in Vietnam, indicate that multidrug-resistant Salmonella are widely disseminated not only in meats, but also in seafood, within the food distribution system of Vietnam. The presence of these multidrug-resistant strains is a public health concern and suggests that the use of antimicrobial agents in both humans and animals in Vietnam should be tightly controlled.