Prevalence, Antibiogram, and Multidrug-Resistant Profile of E. coli O157: H7 in Retail Raw Beef in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Aklilu Feleke Haile; Silvia Alonso; Nega Berhe; Tizeta Bekele Atoma; Prosper N Boyaka; Delia Grace

doi:10.3389/fvets.2022.734896

Prevalence, Antibiogram, and Multidrug-Resistant Profile of E. coli O157: H7 in Retail Raw Beef in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Front Vet Sci. 2022 Feb 24:9:734896. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.734896. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Aklilu Feleke Haile¹, Silvia Alonso², Nega Berhe¹, Tizeta Bekele Atoma³, Prosper N Boyaka^{4

5

6}, Delia Grace^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
² International Livestock Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
³ Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
⁵ Department Microbial Immunity and Infection, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
⁶ Infection Diseases Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.
⁷ International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
⁸ Natural Resources Institute, Chatham, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an emerging foodborne pathogen of public health importance. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence and evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and multidrug-resistant profile of E. coli O157:H7 isolated from raw beef sold in butcher shops in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A total of 384 raw beef samples were collected from randomly selected butcher shops across the 10 sub-cities of Addis Ababa. E. coli O157:H7 was isolated following ISO-16654:2001 standard, and isolates were tested for resistance to 13 antimicrobial agents using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Out of the 384 retail raw beef samples examined, 14 (3.64%) (95% CI = 1.77-5.51%) carried E. coli O157:H7 serotype. Of the 14 E. coli O157:H7 isolates, 8 (57.14%) were found to be resistant to three or more antimicrobial categories. The frequency of resistant phenotype was more common for ampicillin (92.8%), nitrofurantoin (92.8%), and tetracycline (50%). Multidrug-resistant E. coli O157:H7 were present in raw beef sold in butcher shops in Addis Ababa. Thus, more stringent monitoring of antimicrobial use in both human and animal populations should be implemented. In addition, further studies should be conducted to understand the E. coli O157:H7 points of contamination and define appropriate risk mitigation strategies.

Keywords: Addis Ababa; Escherichia coli O157:H7; antimicrobial; beef; prevalence.