Abstract

Salmonella spp. in food products of animal origin can cause foodborne infections, and when antimicrobial-resistant strains are present, can evolve to severe disease. This study aims to determine the occurrence of Salmonella and identify the serotypes present in the beef production chain of the metropolitan region of Cuiabá, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, and evaluate their antimicrobial resistance profile. The presence of Salmonella was determined by the ISO-6579:2002 method and evaluation of resistance to 17 antibiotics was performed by the CSLI 2014 method. The following samples were analyzed: (1) environmental samples: corral swab, bleeding, skinning and deboning knives, ribbon saw, boning bench; (2) animal samples: anal swab, internal and external carcass sponge, organ pool, boning shavings and by-products in the slaughterhouse; and (3) ground meat samples from retail sales from 10 butcher shops and permanent fair stalls. Salmonella was present in ten of the 182 samples (5.5%), five of which were Salmonella Panama detected in the corral, boning tables, meat from the butcher's shop and permanent market. These strains were sensitive to all antibiotics characteristics and similar to Salmonella enterica rough, and being isolated from the ribbon saw used in the production chain. However, Salmonella Anatum and Salmonella Infantis isolated from carcasses, bone meal and viscera presented resistance to sulfonamides, trimethoprim, sulfametazol/ trimethoprim and nitrofurantoin in relation to the use of antibiotics in animal production and the selective pressure of multiresistant Salmonella spp. in products derived from these animals.

Key words: Serotyping, bovine meat, slaughterhouse, butcher, antibiotic resistance.