Multidrug Resistance in Isolates of Escherichia coli from Cracked Chicken Eggs Sold in General Santos City Public Market

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a serious worldwide public health concern. Despite a lack of information, foods of animal origin have been identified as potential drivers at the foundation of this crisis. Cracked eggs are widely available in public markets and may pose health risks to consumers as well as function as vectors of antibiotic resistance. This investigation was carried out to establish the antibiotic sensitivity pattern of E. coli isolates obtained from cracked chicken eggs sold in a city public market using cultivation-based techniques. The egg vendors' food safety awareness and food handling procedures were also surveyed. Using brilliant green lactose bile (BGLB) broth as the enrichment broth, all fifteen cracked egg samples obtained from five vendors turned out presumptively positive for E. coli. Consequently, all BGLB cultures were streaked for isolation on eosin methylene blue agar to isolate dark colonies with greenish metallic sheen, which are indicative of E. coli. This yielded a collection of 45 isolates from the cracked egg samples. The isolates demonstrated varying susceptibility to five antibiotics in modified Kirby Bauer disk diffusion assays. Susceptibilities were observed as follows: (62.2%) to cephalexin, (42.2%) to ciprofloxacin, (20%) to doxycycline, (4.4%) to amoxicillin. None was susceptible to erythromycin. Moreover, antibiotic resistance was identified in the following proportion: 95.6% for erythromycin, 73.3% for amoxicillin, 53.3% for doxycycline, 46.7% for ciprofloxacin, and 13.3% for cephalexin. 13.3% of E. coli isolates were mono-resistant, whereas 71.1% of the isolates were multidrug resistant showing resistance to three or more antibiotics. Our survey also revealed that egg vendors usually have inadequate food handling standards and lack of awareness on food safety. Our findings raise public health concerns and highlight the need for vendor education and more food quality surveillance in public markets.