Mansoureh Taghizadeh - Food Quality Control Laboratory, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Behzad Javadian - Amol Faculty of Paramedics, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
Alireza Rafiei - Department of Immunology, Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences School of Medicine, Sari, Iran.
Azadeh Taraghian - Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Mahmood Moosazadeh - Assistant professor, Health Sciences Research center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

Background: SSalmonella is the most important source of food-borne infections around the world. Human salmonellosis is also caused by the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetable salads contaminated with Salmonella spp. We aimed to detect Salmonella spp. in hamburgers, vegetable salads, and cream-filled pastries from various sources in Mazandaran and assess their pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance. Materials and methods: A total of ۹۰ samples, i.e., hamburgers, vegetable salads, and cream-filled pastries (۳۰ samples of each), were randomly collected. Biochemical and serological tests were performed to detect the Salmonella spp. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed by the disc diffusion method and the virulent genes were examined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All the examined Salmonella serovars in this study showed positive amplification for the virulence genes invA, spv, and viaB. Results: Salmonella spp. were detected in ۵۴ of the ۹۰ samples based on biochemical tests. Of these, ۴۶ isolates (۸۵.۲%) were recovered by the ۱۶S-۲۳S rRNA PCR test, of which ۱۹ (۴۱.۴%) represented the S. typhimurium serotype, ۱۵ (۳۲.۷%) represented the S. enteritidis serotype, and ۲ (۴.۴%) represented the S. typhi serotype. These Salmonella serotypes (۱۹ S. typhimurium, ۱۵ S. enteritidis, and ۲ S. typhi; ۳۶ in total) were sensitive to all the tested antibiotics: Ampicillin, ۲۲/۳۶ (۶۱.۱۱%); Streptomycin ۲۲/۳۶ (۶۱.۱۱%); Cefotaxime ۲۳/۳۶ (۶۳.۸۸); Gentamycin ۳۶/۳۶ (۱۰۰%), and Tetracycline ۳۶/۳۶ (۱۰۰%). However, a few of these serotypes exhibited slight resistance to ampicillin (۴/۳۶; ۱۱.۱۱%) and cefotaxime ۲/۳۶ (۵.۵۵%). Conclusion: These results would greatly help in understanding the prevalence of virulence genes and antibiotic sensitivity among Salmonella serovars in hamburgers, vegetable salads, and cream-filled pastries.

Hamburger, Vegetable salads and Cream-filled pastries, Salmonella, antimicrobial resistance, virulence gene, PCR