Salmonella enterica diversity and antimicrobial resistance profile in broiler slaughterhouse by-products

The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of Salmonella enterica in by-products (feathers, spleen, cecum, and crop) from broiler slaughterhouses as well as to determine the antimicrobial resistance profile of the identified serovars. Forty-four lots of broilers in nine slaughterhouses located in the central-west region of Brazil were evaluated. Samples of spleen, feathers, cecum, and crop were collected in a pool and a total of 1,232 samples were evaluated. These were processed for conventional bacterial isolation and subjected to biochemical and serological tests to identify serovars. The identified serovars were subjected to the antimicrobial susceptibility test, where nine different antimycotics were investigated. Salmonella enterica was identified in 7.1% (87/1,232) of all evaluated samples, mostly in feathers (12.3%) and spleen (8.1%). The most frequent serovars were Schwarzengrund ( 29.9%), Agona (25.4%), Mbandaka (12.7%) and Anatum (8.1%). Nine serovars showed resistance to at least one antimicrobial, especially serovars Mbandaka, Infantis and Typhimurium. Amoxicillin and tetracycline were not effective in inhibiting at least five and four serovars, respectively.