Abstract

The poultry sector is developing rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa but it remains informal in many countries, including Côte d'Ivoire. This situation, which is favourable to the health and nutritional insecurity of food of avian origin, deserves special attention, because of Salmonella, which has poultry as its outbreak. The aim of this study was to help reduce the risk of food poisoning linked to the consumption of poultry products contaminated by Salmonella. A characterisation of avian production from the farm to the fork has been carried out. It covered 1860 samples of avian origin from 20 farms and 630 samples of diarrhoeal stool from human patients. The strains isolated were characterized by antibiotyping, serotyping and molecular typing. The frequency of isolation of Salmonella was 6.8% in poultry products, 5.8% in gizzards, 1.9% in carcasses, 8.2% in eggs and 4.2% in drinking water. In diarrhoeal patients, this frequency was 11.9%, with 15% in children and 10% in adults. Frequently isolated Salmonella strains were distributed among S. Typhimurium (27.6%), S. Enteritidis (20%) and S. Hadar (10.6%). A resistance of these microorganisms to β-lactamines was between 70% and 83%. Clonal links have been identified between the serotypes of S. Typhimurium and S. Heidelberg, isolated in both avian and human matrices. The study shows that unsanitary poultry products could be responsible for diarrhoeal Salmonella infections in humans; therefore, preventive provisions are needed for consumer health protection.

Key words: Food insecurity, Salmonella, serotype, antibiotic resistance.