Prevalence of multidrug resistant Salmonella in Coriander, mint, carrot, and radish in Bareilly and Kanpur, northern India.
We examined 974 samples (304 coriander, 212 mint, 258 carrot, and 200 radish) collected from vegetable vendors in two cities, Bareilly (n = 832) and Kanpur (n = 142), in northern India during the early summer season in 2004. Salmonella was isolated from 35 samples (9 coriander, 5 mint, 10 radish, and 11 carrot) while Escherichia coli was detected in 181 samples (67 coriander, 44 mint, 36 carrot, and 34 radish). None of the E. coli belonged to the O:157 serogroup. Five Salmonella isolates from samples collected at Kanpur (3 coriander and 2 mint) belonged to 4 different serovars of S. enterica ssp. enterica-S. Mons, S. Rottenest, S. Saintpaul, and S. Weltevreden. Thirty Salmonella isolates from samples collected at Bareilly (11 carrot, 10 radish, 6 coriander, and 3 mint) belonged to 7 serovars-S. Anatum, S. Bsilla, S. Newport, S. Saintpaul, S. Teko, S. Virchow, and S. Weltevreden. The majority (82.9%) of Salmonella isolates were multidrug resistant. One quarter of the isolates were resistant to >or=10 antibiotics. Based on antibiotic resistance patterns, 35 isolates could be classified into 23 resistotypes. None of the 35 isolates was resistant to streptomycin and ceftriaxone, while >80% were resistant to sulfamethoxazole, nalidixic acid, and kanamycin. Resistance to imipenem (>20%) and amikacin (>30%) was also common. The correlation between presence of Salmonella and E. coli on raw vegetables was not significant (p = 0.13).
Singh
B R
BR
Division of Bacteriology and Mycology, National Salmonella Centre Veterinary, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India. brs1762@yahoo.co.in
Singh
Preetam
P
Agrawal
Sugandh
S
Teotia
Uvs
U
Verma
Anita
A
Sharma
Shipra
S
Chandra
Mudit
M
Babu
N
N
Kant Agarwal
Ravi
R
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D028526:Coriandrum / Q000382:microbiology; D018552:Daucus carota / Q000382:microbiology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D027541:Mentha / Q000382:microbiology; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D031224:Raphanus / Q000382:microbiology; D012475:Salmonella / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000302:isolation & purification
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents