FARMERS KNOWLEDGE ON ANTIBIOTIC USAGE AND PREVALENCE OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT ESCHERICHIA COLI IN READY-TO-EAT MEATS VENDED IN BOLGATANGA MUNICIPALITY OF GHANA

Abstract

Fresh meat products may have a number of microorganisms that can make meat unwholesome for human consumption when exposed to favorable growth conditions for these microoganisms. The presence of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms in ready-to-eat (RTE) meats will have a significant impact on post-cooking handling activities, meat storage conditions and length at points of sale. The study investigated the prevalence of E. coli in RTE meats as well as the knowledge of livestock farmers on antibiotic usage. Data on demographics and knowledge of antibiotic usage was collected from livestock farmers through the administration of semi-structured questionnaires (n=376) using snowball sampling technique. The protocol in the USA-FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual was used for E. coli identification. The disk diffusion method was used for antibiotic resistance tests. The findings revealed that majority of livestock farmers were male (74.5%), aged between 30-39 years (28.5%) and had tertiary education (30.3%). Sheep (65.7%) was the most reared livestock and tetracycline (36.7%) was the most used antibiotic to treat sick animals. Only 22.6% of the farmers received training on antibiotic usage but majority of the farmers had knowledge (56.1%) on antibiotic usage. Greater number of the farmers (40.2%) consume or sell unrecovered animals treated with antibiotics within a week and 23.9% consumed or sell after three weeks. About 56.6% of the farmers had knowledge on antibiotic residues in meat whereas 63.0% had knowledge of the effect of the antibiotic residue on human health. The microbial load of RTE meats ranged from 2.46 to 3.29 log cfu/cm2 in chicken and pork, respectively. The prevalence of E. coli in RTE meats was lowest in pork (6%) and highest in chevon (20%). E. coli isolates from RTE meats were highly resistant to teicoplanin (96.77%), followed by tetracycline (93.55%), amoxycillin/clavulanic (70.97%), and azithromycin (70.97%). For multidrug resistant, the multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index was found ranging from 0.22 to 0.78. Three isolates of E. coli, one each from chevon, pork and chicken were resistance to seven antibiotics, namely CipAmzAzmTecTeCSxt, AzmTecCnTeCCroSxt and AmcAzmTecCnTeCroSxt, respectively with MAR index of 0.78. One isolate each from chevon and mutton was not susceptible to two antibiotics with 0.22 MAR index. Therefore, in order to keep ready-to-eat meat safe for public consumption, vendors of RTE meats should take hygienic practices seriously.