Incidence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella spp. in ground turkey meat

1. The objectives of this study were to isolate Salmonella spp. by conventional culture technique from ground turkey samples, to determine the seasonal distribution of Salmonella spp., to verify the isolates by PCR using primers based on oriC gene sequence, and to determine the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the isolates. A total of 240 packaged fresh ground turkey samples marketed in Ankara were analysed between July 2004 and June 2005. 2. One hundred and ten out of 240 (458%) samples were positive for Salmonella spp. and confirmed by PCR. The distribution of Salmonella spp. was determined as 483, 550, 633 and 166%, during spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. Statistical analysis showed a significant difference for the prevalence of Salmonella spp. between winter and the other seasons. 3. Of the isolates, 54 out of 110 (490%) were resistant to one or more antibiotics tested. The highest resistance was observed to nalidixic acid (254%), followed by streptomycin (172%) and tetracycline (154%). 4. In conclusion, this is a disturbing finding, both for the high prevalence of Salmonella and the extent of antibiotic resistance. Ground turkey should be produced under suitable hygienic and technological conditions and the use of antimicrobials must be controlled by governmental agencies to protect public health from salmonellosis and from the consequences of increased resistance to the antibiotics.