Antimicrobial resistance profile of Salmonella present in organic farming in Selangor, Malaysia

Presence of Salmonella in organic farming may lead to contamination in fresh produce. This study was designed to detect Salmonella contamination in organic vegetable farm situated in Serdang and to evaluate the antibiotic susceptibility profiles of the isolates. A total of 460 samples of brinjal, cucumber, ladies’ fingers and soil were collected and examined for the presence of Salmonella. The obtained isolates were identified and confirmed by biochemical characterization and serotyping. Antibiotic sensitivity profiles of the isolates were determined by using agar disk diffusion method. Salmonella spp. was detected in brinjal (1.7%, n=2), cucumber (1.7%, n=2), ladies’ fingers (2.5%, n=3) and soil (5.0%, n=5) samples. The prevalent serovars were Salmonella enterica ser. Senftenberg, S. enterica ser. Weltevreden and S. enterica ser. Corvallis. All strains were resistance to penicillin and vancomycin, with multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) index between 0.21 and 0.36, demonstrated here as multi-drug resistant (MDR) Salmonella. The result highlighted that organic vegetables constituted potential sources of Salmonella, informing continuous monitoring and tightened surveillance are necessary to ensure food safety

Occurrence of Escherichia coli harbouring stx genes in popiah, a Malaysian street food

Irrespective of its health effects, street foods are very popular with the consumers. The main purpose of this research was to study the biosafety of Escherichia coli in popiah, a Malaysian street food sold at a roadside food stall and a restaurant in Sri Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia, using the combination of the most probable number (MPN)-Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay-plating on Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) agar methods. Using these biomolecular methods, E. coli was detected in 12/15 (80%) and 11/15 (73%) of the collected samples from the roadside food stall and the restaurant respectively. The incidence of stx virulence-associated genes was detected in 1/15 (7%) among the E. coli isolated from samples taken from the roadside food stall while the E. coli isolated from the restaurant was 3/15 (20%). The density of E. coli ranged from 1100 MPN/g and the density of E. coli positive with stx genes was <3 to 53 MPN /g in samples from both the roadside food stall and the restaurant. The presence of the stx-positive E. coli in popiah are significant to risk assessments of food and epidemiological studies. Therefore, from the information obtained in this study, it is obvious that the screening for STEC markers in food samples would be useful for food safety survey

Prevalence of multi-antibiotics resistant (MAR) Vibrio parahaemolyticus in shrimp farms in Sarawak, Malaysia

The shrimp farming industry is constantly under threat due to outbreaks of infectious diseases and environmental problems. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an important foodborne pathogen causing significant economic losses within the shrimp aquaculture industry worldwide. This research aimed to determine the prevalence of V. parahaemolyticus from different shrimp farms from the stocking to harvesting period and assess the antibiotic susceptibility of V. parahaemolyticus using the antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST). In this study, a total of 288 samples comprising twenty-four from each sample consisting of shrimp, water, effluent, and sediment samples were collected aseptically from three (n = 3) shrimp farms located at Telaga Air Farm 1 (Pond 6), Telaga Air Farm 2 (Pond 9) and Santubong Farm (Pond 7), Kuching, Sarawak. A molecular approach by polymerase chain reaction was used to confirm the presence of regulator gene, toxR, V. parahaemolyticus. A total of 14 antibiotics, including spectinomycin (SH100), imipenem (IPM10), amoxycillin/clavulanic acid (AMC30), enrofloxacin (ENR5), bacitracin (B10), meropenem (MEM10), cephalothin (KF30), penicillin G (P10), tetracycline (TE30), kanamycin (K30), streptomycin(S25), rifampicin (RD2), erythromycin (E15), and nalidixic acid (NA30) were used. The results obtained showed that 51/288 (17.71%) of the collected samples with regulator gene, toxR V. parahaemolyticus. As a whole, this includes 31.25% (30/288) from sediment samples, 4.17% (4/288) from shrimp samples, 15.63% (15/288) from water samples, and 2.08% (2/288) from effluent water samples. A total of 54.9% (28/51) of V. parahaemolyticus acquired multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR). The resistance of antibiotics was profiled, and the multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indexes and classified into ten patterns. The MAR index of V. parahaemolyticus isolates ranged from 0.11 to 0.36. Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolates showed 31.38% with a MAR index > 0.2, indicating that these isolates might be originated from high-risk sources. The data obtained from this study is helpful to monitor the presence of V. parahaemolyticus in the aquaculture farm management system to mitigate the hazard potentially arising from the environmental factor that causes shrimp diseases and shrimp infection

Microbiological food safety in Malaysia from the academician’s perspective

Food safety in Malaysia is not considered an issue yet. From the previous year (2005- 2015) records, the incidence rate of food poisoning had been fluctuating and despite that, cases continue to occur especially among school students. As a developing nation, it is high-time that Malaysia begins to emphasize on food safety to reduce the burden of foodborne illness in the socio-economic development of the country, and at the same time, gain benefits in terms of economic returns and trade through food safety enforcement. Most importantly, public health is achieved through food safety implementation and accentuation. The current standing point of the Malaysia’s food safety is discussed in this review. In addition, the review will also discuss the role of academicians as intervention contributions in tackling food safety issues. The review is hoped to provide valuable and concentrated information and knowledge to readers in the light to drive Malaysia into ensuring safer food for the public