Prevalence and characteristics of Salmonella in retail poultry and pork meat in the Czech Republic during 2013–2014

Abstract

The EN ISO 6579/2002 guideline was used for the detection of Salmonella in retail poultry and pork meat in the Czech Republic in 2013 and 2014. The laboratory confirmed isolates were further typed (slide agglutination, phage typing, resistance to antimicrobial agents, PCR for the detection of selected genes encoding plasmid mediated quinolone resistance). Out of 176 poultry and 223 pork meat samples, 24 (13.6%) and 6 (2.7%) were positive for the detection of Salmonella spp., respectively. In Salmonella isolates from poultry, 14 serotypes were differentiated with S. indiana, S. enteritidis and S. 6,7:-:1,5 being the most common serotypes. S. typhimurium and its monophasic variant S. 4,[5],12:i:- were predominant in pork meat. The overall resistance to one antimicrobial agent at least was high in both groups of isolates – 50% (poultry) and 71.4% (pork). No Salmonella isolate was confirmed to carry any of the selected PMQR genes. The study showed a higher prevalence of Salmonella in poultry, but pork meat also poses a risk to consumers.