ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to identify and investigate the antibiotic susceptibility pattern or antibiogram of organisms of public health importance isolated from chicken suya sold in Umuahia. The study identified microorganisms belonging to the genera Staphylococcus, Escherichia, Shigella and Salmonella which were of public health importance as they were potent food pathogens. Escherichia coli (32.43%) was identified to be the most occurring microorganism isolated followed by Staphylococcus aureus (27.03%), Shigella spp. (24.32%) and lastly Salmonella spp. (16.22%). The antibiotics susceptibility pattern of the isolates was carried out using the Kirby Bauer Disk diffusion method and the organisms showed varying susceptibility patterns to the tested antibiotics. The antibiotics tested were Ofloxacin, Nalidixic acid, Gentamicin, Penicillin, Augmentin, Ciprofloxacin, Levofloxacin, Erythromycin, Streptomycin, Chloramphenicol, Oxacillin, Rifampicin, Amoxicillin and Norfioxacin. The Gram negative organisms showed the highest susceptibility to Ofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin and Chioramphenicol and highest resistance to Augumentin while the Gram positive organism showed the highest susceptibility to Levofloxacin and the highest resistance to Rifampicin and Amoxicilin. The results also showed that Salmonella spp. had the highest MAR index of 0.8 and this is of public health importance because only small doses of the organism is required to cause an infection. The antibiogram of the isolated organisms found in chicken suya sold in Umuahia produced by this study is useful to understand antibiotic susceptibility in Umuahia and provide a guide to clinicians choosing empirical antibiotic treatment.