PREVALENCE AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE OF SALMONELLA IN IMPORTED CHICKEN CARCASSES IN BHUTAN

Abstract

Introduction Commercial poultry production does not meet the market demand for chicken meat as a result Bhutan imports over 90% of chicken meat valued at USD 2.4 million annually from India (1). Major constraints for development of food safety are the lack of basic infrastructure, appropriate technology, and shortage of skilled manpower in food safety and quality control. Although, strict import conditions have been laid down, it essentially takes more than 8-10 hours to get the products to the consumers. No previous studies have been done with respect to the Salmonella in imported chicken meat in Bhutan, therefore, microbiological quality is unknown, and has to rely on the information provided at the source. In recent years, antibiotic resistance in Salmonella has assumed alarming proportions (3) and there are various reports of multi-drug resistant Salmonella organisms isolated from chickens in India (2). The presence of these organisms in the imported meat for consumption is a safety or Bhutanese population. Therefore, the study was conducted to find out the microbiological status, prevalence of Salmonella spp. and drug resistant Salmonella isolates in imported chicken carcasses in Bhutan.