ABSTRACT
Salmonella is an important zoonotic pathogen and its prevalence in animals poses a continuous threat to man. A characteristic feature of this organism is its wide host range, which comprises most animal species including mammals, birds and cold-blooded animals in addition to humans. The organism's route of infection is the faecal-oral route via food or water contaminated with faeces or urine of previously infected persons or animals. A cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Salmonella species in poultry in Zamfara State. From February to April 2015, a total of 300 samples were taken from poultry slaughtered and dressed in live bird markets in Zamfara State using multistage sampling method. Carcass swab and cloacal samples were collected from each bird sampled. The laboratory procedure was carried out using ISO 6579:2002. Conventional biochemical test as well as Microbact 12E was used for bacterial identification. Data was analyzed using Epi info 7 and Microsoft Excel 2007. A prevalence rate of 3.3% (95% CI:0.02-0.05) was observed from the 300 samples. Subspecies of Salmonella detected were S. arizonae and Salmonella spp. Statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was observed between isolates and occurrence at different sample sites. The isolates were 100% resistant to vancomycin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, 87.5% to erythromycin, 81.3% to doxyclycline, 75% to chlororamphenicol and 25% to kanamycin. Five of the isolates were resistant to more than five different antibiotics. There was statistically significant difference (p<0.01) in antimicrobial resistance patterns exhibited by the subspecies. However, the isolates showed 100% sensitivity to ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, imipenem and ofloxacin. In conclusion, the study revealed the existence of multiple drug resistant Salmonella spp from poultry. We therefore suggest further epidemiological studies and enforcement of the food hygiene regulations. Key words: Multiple drugs, resistant, Salmonella, poultry.