Abstract:

Objectives: In India egg is being promoted as complete food by the National Egg Co-cordination Committee (NECC) and being included in the free mid-day meal provided to school student s in rural areas. The objective of the present study is to determine the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella on the shell and in the contents of eggs of commercial samples from the retail outlets of Kottayam, South India. Materials and Methods: Six hundred samples of eggs (150 each from commercial layer hens, non-commercial layer hens, duck and Japanese quail) were analysed for the prevalence of Salmonella as per United States Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological analytical manual and the confirmed and serotyped strains were analysed for antibiotic resistance by Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Results: Five different serotypes such as S.weltevreden, S.worthington, S.dublin, S.bareilly and S.typhimurium were encountered in the eggs of commercial layer hens, while backyard raised layen hen eggs had only S.bareilly and S.dublin. Japanese quail eggs showed prevalence of S.worthington, S.typhimurium and S.bareilly. S.enteritidis was encountered only in the duck eggs where the only other serotype was S.infantis. Conclusion: S.enteritidis prevalence was relatively less when compared to reports from other countries. More than 50% of duck eggs had Salmonella contamination in the contents which pose threat to unwary consumers. Resistance to tetracycline, oxytetracycline and nalidixic acid were relatively high among Salmonella isolates from eggs of commercial layer hens.

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