Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes: A Review of Prevalence and Antibiotic Resistance in Chickens and their Processing Environments

Salmonellosis and listeriosis represent important foodborne diseases that continue to pose major challenges to national economic and public health, worldwide. Currently, the leading source of human infection is considered to be due to consumption of contaminated raw or undercooked poultry meat and their products. However, exploration of major databases revealed that Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes have been identified in the environment, humans, and food animals, worldwide. This review highlights the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in chicken and their related processing environments. There is a difference in the prevalence of these pathogens and their resistance to a wide range of antibiotics. The overall prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes was 39.0% (range, 4.0%–88.46%) and 25.2% (range, 2.5%–60%), respectively. Likewise, in this survey, a high percentage of Salmonella isolates were resistant to erythromycin (89.7%), sulphonamide (63.6%), tetracycline (62.2%), ampicillin (58.0%), streptomycin (46.7%), and nalidixic acid (46.1%). The L. monocytogenes were most resistant to nalidixic acid (100%), oxacillin (90.0%), clindamycin (59.5%), and ceftriaxone (59.0%). Such baseline information is essential for use in developing effective risk management strategies of foodborne pathogens in chicken and poultry products.