High-level Ciprofloxacin and Tigecycline resistance in Salmonella enterica sv. Molade from a slaughterhouse-based poultry sampling in the Turkish region: a cross-sectional study

1. The aim of this study was to descriptively assess Ciprofloxacin and Tigecycline resistance in Salmonella enterica serovars isolated from poultry samples obtained from a limited number of farms and a single slaughterhouse in the Turkish region. 2. A total of 550 samples were collected from slaughterhouses and farms. Salmonella spp. were isolated using the ISO 6579:2002/Amd 1:2007 culture method and presumptive isolates were confirmed using conventional biochemical tests, the BD Phoenix™ automated system and PCR targeting the invA gene. 3. Selective media initially yielded 76 isolates with suspected Salmonella spp. morphology, of which 50 (9.1%) were confirmed as Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Molade (8, 20:z10:z6) according to the White-Kauffmann-Le Minor scheme. 4. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, interpreted according to EUCAST 2023 breakpoints, demonstrated resistance to Ciprofloxacin in all confirmed isolates (50/50, 100%) and resistance to Tigecycline in 44 isolates (88%). No isolates produced extended-spectrum β-lactamases, carbapenemases or AmpC β-lactamases and no multidrug-resistant profiles were detected. 5. Given the restricted epidemiological scope of the study, these findings should be interpreted with caution. The observed resistance patterns in this rarely reported serovar suggest that further investigations involving broader, multi-site sampling are required to better elucidate its epidemiology and antimicrobial resistance characteristics.