Assessment of virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance among the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from animal meat and carcass samples

BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria are emerging causes of food spoilage and foodborne diseases. Raw meat of animal species may consider a reservoir of P. aeruginosa strains. OBJECTIVES: The present survey was done to assess the prevalence, antibiotic resistance properties and distribution of virulence factors among the P. aeruginosa strains isolated from raw meat and carcass surface swab samples of animal species. METHODS: Five hundred and fifty raw meat and carcass surface swab samples were collected from cattle and sheep species referred to as slaughterhouses. P. aeruginosa bacteria were identified using culture and biochemical tests. The pattern of antibiotic resistance was determined by disk diffusion. The distribution of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes was determined using polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Forty‐seven of 550 (8.54%) examined samples were contaminated with P. aeruginosa. The prevalence of P. aeruginosa in raw meat and carcass surface swab samples were 6.57 and 12%, respectively. P. aeruginosa isolates showed the maximum resistance rate toward penicillin (87.23%), ampicillin (85.10%), tetracycline (85.10%), gentamicin (65.95%) and trimethoprim (57.44%). The most commonly detected antibiotic resistance genes were BlaCTX‐M (53.19%), blaDHA (42.55%) and blaTEM (27.65%). The most commonly detected virulence factors was ExoS (42.55%), algD (31.91%), lasA (31.91%), plcH (31.91%) and exoU (25.53%). CONCLUSIONS: Meat and carcass surface swab samples may be sources of resistant and virulent P. aeruginosa, which pose a hygienic threat in their consumption. However, further investigations are required to identify additional epidemiological features of P. aeruginosa in meat and carcass surface samples.