Conference Abstract | Volume 9 (ConfPro8): Abstract 105 | Published: 13 Oct 2026
Jeffery Elorm Akortia Agbemeetsi1,&, Isaac Cudjoe Badu1, Victoria Bernice Sedor2, Emmanuel Martin Obeng Bekoe3, Elvis Fiam Amegayibor2,4, Christian Owusu-Nyantakyi5, Bevely Egyir5, Emmanuel Allegye-Cudjoe6
1Veterinary Services Department, Central Veterinary Laboratory, Pong-Tamale, Tamale, Ghana, 2Veterinary Services Department, National Food Safety Laboratory, Accra, Accra, Ghana, 3Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Water Research Institute, Tamale, Tamale, Ghana, 4Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi,, Kumasi, Ghana. 5Department of Bacteriology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana, Accra, Ghana, 6Veterinary Services Department, National Head Office, Accra, Accra, Ghana
&Corresponding author: Jeffery Elorm Akortia Agbemeetsi, Veterinary Services Department, Central Veterinary Laboratory, Pong-Tamale, Tamale, Ghana, Email: jefferycrown@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1585-1508
Received: 11 Mar 2026, Accepted: 30 Aug 2026, Published: 13 Oct 2026
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance, whole genome sequencing, salmonella enterica, food safety, slaughterhouse, One Health
©Jeffery Elorm Akortia Agbemeetsi et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Jeffery Elorm Akortia Agbemeetsi et al., Genomic characterization of antimicrobial resistance profiles in salmonella spp. from apparently healthy poultry, beef, and tilapia in northern Ghana. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2026;9(ConfPro8):105. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO8-00105
Salmonella enterica is a significant foodborne pathogen yet its epidemiology within Ghana remains poorly documented due to limited surveillance. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence, serotypes, and resistance profiles in asymptomatic food animals and meat products across the Northern regions of Ghana.
Using purposive sampling, 50 poultry caeca (33 farms), 50 bovine meat samples (26 slaughterhouses), and 28 pooled tilapia kidney/intestine samples (11 farms), were collected in December. These samples were screened using standard culture-based bacteriological techniques. Confirmed Isolates underwent whole-genome sequencing (WGS) on the illumina platform at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research . The Salmonella genome assemblies were analysed for serovar and serogroup prediction using the Salmonella In-Silico Typing Resource (SISTR) and SeroSeq, based on the Kauffmann–White classification.Furthermore, Pathogenwatch was utilized for AMR gene detection and plasmid profiles their phylogenetic distribution were visualized using iTOL.
Salmonella spp. were recovered from 12.5% (16/128) of all samples,. with isolation rates stratified by source as follows: 32.1% (9/28) in tilapia, 8% (4/50) in bovine samples, and 6% (3/50) in poultry. Regarding environmental prevalence, the occurrence was 81.8% in tilapia farms, 19.2%in slaughtering facilities, and 6.1% (2/33) in poultry farms. WGS of 11 randomly selected isolates revealed a diversity of seven serotypes: Chester, Colindale, and Schwarzengrund, Meleagridis, Kentucky, and S. I 4:e,h:-. Notably, a bovine isolate recovered from Sheshigu harboured blaTEM-1B and tet(A) genes conferring resistance to beta-lactams and tetracycline antibiotics, respectively, in association with an IncI1-I plasmid replicon.
Reporting Salmonella serotypes previously undocumented in Ghana, these findings reveal significant AMR-related risks across meat supply chains. This potential threat for food handlers and women underscores the urgent need for integrated One Health genomic surveillance and enhanced safety interventions to mitigate public health risks.
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