Virulence and Antimicrobial Resistance Profiles of Serovars Isolated from Chicken at Wet Markets in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Virulent and multi drug resistant (MDR) is a foremost cause of foodborne diseases and had serious public health concern globally. The present study was undertaken to identify the pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles of serovars recovered from chicken at wet markets in Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 870 cecal contents of broiler, sonali, and native chickens were collected from 29 wet markets. The overall prevalence of Typhimurium, Enteritidis, and untyped spp., were found to be 3.67%, 0.57%, and 1.95% respectively. All isolates were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for eight virulence genes, namely A, A, A, A, H, A, E, and C. . Enteritidis isolates carried all virulence genes whilst . Typhimurium isolates carried six virulence genes except A and C. A diverse phenotypic and genotypic AMR pattern was found. Harmonic descending trends of resistance patterns were observed among the broiler, sonali, and native chickens. Interestingly, virulent and MDR serovars were found in native chicken, although antimicrobials were not used in their production cycle. The research findings anticipate that virulent and MDR are roaming in the wet markets which can easily anchor to the vendor, consumers, and in the food chain.