OBJECTIVETo determine the proportion of imported frozen fish contaminated with Salmonella among retail food stores and supermarkets in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

METHODSA total of 223 frozen freshwater fish purchased from different supermarkets and grocery stores were analyzed for the presence of foodborne pathogen Salmonella. The isolation of Salmonella was determined and confirmed by using the methods of US Food and Drug Administration's Bacteriological Analytical Manual, CHROMagar Salmonella plus, biochemical tests and API 20E strips. Antimicrobial susceptibilities of Salmonella isolates were determined by the disk diffusion method on Muller-Hinton agar, as described by Kirby-Bauer, in accordance with the guidelines of the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute.

RESULTSOut of the total 223 fish samples (20 of catfish, 18 of carfu, 20 of mirgal, 25 of milkfish, 35 of mackerel, 75 of tilapia, and 30 of rohu), 89 (39.9%) were tested positive for Salmonella. The prevalence of positive samples were reported for the freshwater fish of pangas (60.0%, n=12), carfu (27.7%, n=5), mirgal (35.0%, n=7), milkfish (52.0%, n=13), mackerel (31.4 %, n=11), tilapia imported from Thailand (64.0%, n=16), tilapia imported from India (28.0%, n=14), rohu imported from Thailand (26.6%, n=4) and rohu imported from Myanmar (46.6%, n=7). A total of 140 isolates of Salmonella spp. were yielded from at least seven different types of frozen freshwater fish imported from 5 different countries and were tested for their susceptibility to 16 selected antimicrobial agents. The highest antibiotic resistance was observed to tetracycline (90.71%) followed by ampicillin (70%) and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (45%).

CONCLUSIONSThe obtained results of this study shows that these raw retail imported frozen freshwater fish are contaminated with potentially pathogenic Salmonella spp. And the study recommend and suggest that there is a need for adequate consumer measures.