Incidence of Enterobacteriaceae in Retail Meat Samples and Their Antibiotic Susceptibility

The study aims at accounting the prevalence of pathogenic bacteria within the family Enterobacteriaceae in retail meat samples. Eighty samples were collected from four different locations of Allahabad region. Isolation was done using selective plating according to ISO Standard; ISO 21528-1:2004. Differentiation and characterization of different isolates was based on their growth characteristics on specific culture media, their biochemical confirmatory tests and Gram-staining reactions. Total soluble proteins of the isolates were estimated by Biuret method. Antibiotic susceptibility of the isolates was tested against antibiotics including ampicillin, streptomycin and ciprofloxacin at different concentrations. A total of 62 isolates were obtained and identified as Klebsiella planticola, Citrobacter youngae, Enterobacter sp, E. cloacae, K. ornithinolytica and K. pneumonia. All the isolates were susceptible to ampicillin, streptomycin and ciprofloxacin at concentrations of 10, 50, 80 and 100 mg/ml. The virulent proteins were highest in Enterobacter (127.3 mg/ml) followed by C. youngae (119.4 mg/ml). Meat sold in the local markets of Allahabad showed presence of pathogenic bacteria belonging particularly to the family Enterobacteriaceae; indicating poor hygienic conditions as well as improper storage environment. The results revealed that K. pneumonia (29.9%) represented the major part of bacterial flora, in the samples followed by C. youngae(20%).