Research Article
Escherichia coli O157:H7fromFoodofAnimalOrigininArsi:
OccurrenceatCateringEstablishmentsandAntimicrobial
SusceptibilityProfile
MindaAsfawGeresu
1
andShimelisRegassa
2
1
Department of Veterinary Science, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Arsi University, Asella, Ethiopia
2
Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Environmental Science, Arsi University, Asella, Ethiopia
Correspondence should be addressed to Minda Asfaw Geresu; minda.asfaw@gmail.com
Received 2 January 2021; Revised 10 March 2021; Accepted 17 March 2021; Published 29 March 2021
Academic Editor: Ahmad Mansour
Copyright © 2021 Minda Asfaw Geresu and Shimelis Regassa. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
Escherichia coli O157:H7(E. coli O157 : H7) has been found to be the major cause of food-borne diseases and a serious public
health problem in the world, with an increasing concern for the emergence and spread of antimicrobial-resistant strains. Hitherto,
little is known about the carriage of E. coli O157 : H7 and its antimicrobial susceptibility profile in the food of animal origin in
Ethiopia. is study aimed to determine the occurrence and multidrug resistance profile of E. coli O157 : H7 from food of animal
origin at different catering establishments in the selected study settings of Arsi Zone. One hundred ninety-two animal origin food
items, namely, raw/minced meat (locally known as “Kitfo,” “Kurt,” and “Dulet”), raw milk, egg sandwich, and cream cake samples
were collected and processed for microbiological detection of E. coli O157 :H7. Out of 192 samples, 2.1% (4/192) were positive for
E. coli O157:H7.Two E. coli O157 :H7 isolates were obtained from “Dulet” (6.3%) followed by “Kurt” (3.1%, 1/32) and raw milk
(3.1%, 1/32), whereas no isolate was obtained from “Kitfo,” egg sandwich, and cream cake samples. Of the 4 E. coli O157:H7
isolates subjected to 10 panels of antimicrobial discs, 3 (75%) were highly resistant to kanamycin, streptomycin, and nitro-
furantoin. Besides, all the isolates displayed multidrug resistance phenotypes, 3 to 5 antimicrobial resistance, amid kanamycin,
streptomycin, nitrofurantoin, tetracycline, and chloramphenicol. e occurrence of multidrug-resistant E. coli O157:H7 isolates
from foods of animal origin sampled from different catering establishments reveals that the general sanitary condition of the
catering establishments, utensils used, and personnel hygienic practices did not comply with the recommended standards. us,
this finding calls for urgent attention toward appropriate controls and good hygienic practices in different catering establishments
dealing with consuming raw/undercooked foods of animal origin.
1.Introduction
Food-borne pathogens are the leading causes of food-borne
human illness and death in the world [1]. e severity is
higher among developing countries, including Ethiopia
[2, 3]. is could be attributed to changes in eating habits,
mass catering, complex and lengthy food supply procedures
with increased international movement, poor food handling
and sanitation practices, inadequate food safety laws, weak
regulatory systems, lack of financial resources, and aware-
ness about proper food handling which creates a conducive
environment for the spread of food-borne and food
poisoning etiologic agents [4–6]. A wide range of pathogens
plays a role in food-borne disease, most of which have a
zoonotic origin and have carriers in healthy food animals
from which they spread to an increasing variety of foods of
animal origin and are considered as major vehicles of food-
borne infections [7, 8]. Among the bacterial pathogens,
Escherichia coli O157:H7(E. coli O157 : H7) has frequently
been associated with food-borne illness [9]. e infection
caused by these bacteria initially causes nonbleeding diar-
rhea accompanied by abdominal cramps. en, it may de-
velop into bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome
(HUS), which causes kidney failure in humans [10–12].
Hindawi
e Scientific World Journal
Volume 2021, Article ID 6631860, 10 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6631860