High Prevalence of Multidrug-Resistant, Biofilm-Forming Virulent in Broiler Chicken Retail Points in Northeast India.

In light of the significant public health and food safety implications associated with , this study aimed to isolate and characterize in samples obtained from broiler chicken retail points in Meghalaya, northeastern India. A total of 280 samples comprising meat, intestinal contents, water, and hand swabs were processed to detect contamination by . The isolates were subjected to toxinotyping, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and biofilm-forming ability test. The overall occurrence of was 22.5% (17.74-27.85, 95% CI) with the highest recovery from intestine samples (31%; 22.13-41.03, 95% CI), followed by meat (23%, 15.17-32.49, 95% CI) and water samples (18%, 8.58-31.44, 95% CI). Type A was the predominant toxinotype (71.43%, 58.65-82.11, 95% CI), followed by Type A with beta2 toxin (17.46%, 9.05-29.10, 95% CI), Type C (7.94%, 2.63-17.56, 95% CI), and Type C with beta2 toxin (3.17%, 0.39-11.0, 95% CI). Nearly all (95.24%) isolates were multidrug resistant and 68.25% were biofilm formers. The predominance of multidrug-resistant and virulent Type A and Type C in retail broiler meat and intestines in the tribal-dominated northeastern region of India is of great concern from food safety and public health perspectives.