Occurrence, Antibiotic Susceptibility and Genes Encoding Antibacterial Resistance of spp. and Escherichia coli From Milk and Meat Sold in Markets of Bushenyi District, Uganda.

The bacteriological safety of food/food products and the menace of antimicrobial resistance amongst enteropathogenic bacteria raise therapeutic management concerns within the public health system. Recently consumers of food/food products purchased from the public market of Bushenyi District presents with Enterobacteriaceae infection-associated symptoms and clinical conditions. We determine the molecular characterization and antibiotic signatures of some enteric bacterial recovered from foods/food products in markets of Bushenyi District, Uganda. Standard molecular biology techniques (Polymerase chain reaction PCR) and microbiological procedures were applied. Meat (MT) and milk (MK) samples were collected from 4 communities/town markets (Kizinda, Ishaka, Bushenyi, kashenyi) between April and September 2020 and analyzed. Our result reveals high differential counts of species (175.33 ± 59.71 Log 10 CFU/100 ml) and (53.33 ± 26.03 Log 10 CFU/100 ml) within the 4 markets with the count of species higher than that of in each sampled market. The PCR further confirmed the detected strains (22.72% of and 54.29% of species) and diverse multiple antibiotic-resistant determinants {TEM: (12 (23.1%) TEM-2 gene, 3 (5.8%) TEM gene}, 5 (9.6%) SHV gene, 3 (5.8%) CTX-M-2, 1 (1.9%) CTX-M-9 }. Other resistance genes detected were {10 (21.7%) A gene} and 8 (17.4%) gene} indicating a potential antibiotic failure. The need for alternative medicine and therapeutic measure is suggestive. Astute and routine surveillance/monitoring of potential pathogens and food products in the public market remains a core for maintaining future consumer safety.