Presence of antibiotic resistance non-typhoidal Salmonella spp. from green leafy vegetables in Dehradun

Abstract Non-typhoidal Salmonella infections (NTS) are a significant public health issue in low-income countries because of inadequate hygiene and sanitation facilities. This issue is further complicated by inadequate periodic surveillance for the better management of Salmonella-related infections. Furthermore, reports of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella species pre- and post-harvest require periodic characterization of bacterial isolates to ascertain the appropriate medication for effective treatment. In the present study, 645 green leafy vegetable samples were examined for the presence of typhoidal and non-typhoidal Salmonella species. Isolate culture on differential medium and biochemical characterization confirmed the presence of Salmonella species in 61 out of 645 samples (9.45%) collected from ten sample sites in the Dehradun district of Uttarakhand state in India. The culture confirmed that 15 isolates were randomly selected, and each sample was subjected to 47 antibiotics for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Of the bacterial isolates, 93.33% were resistant to methicillin, whereas 80% were resistant to cefpodoxime, teicoplanin, and clindamycin. In total, 55.33% of the isolates were resistant to Linezolid, Novobiocin, colistin, and nitrofurantoin. 46.66% were resistant to chloramphenicol. Salmonella sp. with Antibiotic resistance of Salmonella spp. was found in the Dehradun area, and this study may help with disease management and adequate food safety measures.