| Summary: | The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant <i>Salmonella enterica</i> (<i>S. enterica</i>) to humans through food of animal origin are considered a major global public health concern. Currently, little is known about the prevalence of important antimicrobial resistance genes in <i>S. enterica</i> from retail food in Africa. Therefore, the screening and characterization of the extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes in <i>S. enterica</i> isolated from retail meats and slaughterhouses in Egypt were done by using PCR and DNA sequencing techniques. Twenty-eight out of thirty-four (82.4%) non-duplicate <i>S. enterica</i> isolates showed multidrug-resistance phenotypes to at least three classes of antimicrobials, and fourteen (41.2%) exhibited an ESBL-resistance phenotype and harbored at least one ESBL-encoding gene. The identified β-lactamase-encoding genes included <i>bla</i><sub>CTX-M-1</sub>, <i>bla</i><sub>CTX-M-3</sub>, <i>bla</i><sub>CTX-M-13</sub>, <i>bla</i><sub>CTX-M-14</sub>, <i>bla</i><sub>CTX-M-15</sub>, and <i>bla</i><sub>SHV-12</sub> (ESBL types); <i>bla</i><sub>CMY-2</sub> (AmpC type); and <i>bla</i><sub>TEM-1</sub> and <i>bla</i><sub>OXA-1</sub> (narrow-spectrum types). PMQR genes (included <i>qnrA</i>, <i>qnrB</i>, <i>qnrS</i>, and <i>aac(6′)-Ib-cr</i>) were identified in 23 (67.6%) isolates. The presence of ESBL- and PMQR-producing <i>S. enterica</i> with a high prevalence rate in retail meats and slaughterhouses is considered a major threat to public health as these strains with resistance genes could be transmitted to humans through the food chain.
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