Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profile of Salmonella isolates from dairy products in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

A cross sectional study was conducted on dairy items in Addis Ababa from October 2010 to March 2011 to determine prevalence and antimicrobial resistance profile of Salmonella. A total of 384 dairy items, 96 of each item (cheese, milk, butter and yogurt) was sampled. The overall prevalence of Salmonella was found to be 1.6% (6 of 384). Prevalence of 3.1, 1.04, 2.1, and 0% was observed from cheese, butter, milk and yogurt, respectively. However, there was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) in the prevalence ofSalmonella among the different sample types. Isolates were tested for the effects of eight antimicrobials by disk diffusion technique; all isolates were resistant to one or more of the tested antimicrobials. Of all isolates, 50% were multiple antimicrobial resistant. 83.3, 50, 16.7, and 16.7% of isolates were resistant to tetracycline, ampicillin, amoxicillin, and chloramphenicol, respectively. However, all the isolates were susceptible to gentamycin, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, and sulfamethoxazole. From this pilot study, we concluded that dairy products are a potential source of Salmonella infection with antimicrobial resistance. Furthermore, hygienic management of dairy products and prudent use of antimicrobials are also suggested.   Key words: Salmonella, prevalence, dairy products, antimicrobial resistance, Addis Ababa.