Global prevalence and antibiotic resistance profiles of bacterial pathogens in table eggs: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Vet World Vol.18 April-2025 Article - 19

Systematic Review

Veterinary World, 18(4): 939-954

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2025.939-954

Cyrielle Hinson^1,2, Aretas Tonouhewa¹, Paulin Azokpota³, Georges Daube², Nicolas Korsak², and Philippe Sessou¹

1. Communicable Disease Research Unit, Applied Research Laboratory, Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin.

2. Department of Food Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, FARAH-Veterinary Public Health, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium.

3. Laboratory of Food Sciences and Technology, Faculty of Agronomic Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin.

Background and Aim: Eggs represent a vital dietary source globally; however, bacterial contamination poses a substantial public health risk. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the global prevalence of bacterial contamination in table eggs and to characterize the antibiotic resistance profiles of these pathogens, emphasizing their implications for public health.

Materials and Methods: A comprehensive bibliographic search of Web of Science, MEDLINE (PubMed), CAB Abstract, and Google Scholar databases was performed, identifying 136 studies published between 1979 and 2022. The systematic review utilized Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and advanced bibliometric techniques for data collection. Microsoft Excel and R software (v5.0) were employed for data consolidation and statistical analysis. Heterogeneity among studies was assessed using Higgins’ I² index, and a random-effects model was adopted for prevalence estimation and subgroup analyses.

Results: Seventeen bacterial species were identified in eggs, primarily Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter spp., and Listeria monocytogenes. Overall, eggshell contamination rates exceeded those of egg contents. Salmonella spp. isolates exhibited complete resistance (100%) to nitrofurantoin, novobiocin, and polymyxin and substantial resistance (>50%) to commonly used antibiotics such as amoxicillin (74.5%), penicillin G (89.1%), and colistin (83.1%). E. coli isolates showed total resistance to penicillin G (100%) and high resistance to amoxicillin (72.2%) and ceftazidime (95.6%). Antibiotic resistance varied significantly across regions, notably higher in Asian and African isolates. Multidrug-resistant strains of E. coli and Campylobacter spp. were also identified.

Conclusion: This study underscores the high global prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in poultry eggs and highlights concerning antibiotic resistance trends, particularly among Salmonella spp. and E. coli. The findings emphasize the urgent need for region-specific biosecurity protocols and antimicrobial stewardship strategies to reduce egg contamination and control antibiotic-resistant pathogens, ultimately safeguarding public health and food safety.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance, food safety, prevalence, Salmonella spp., table eggs.

How to cite this article: Hinson C, Tonouhewa T, Azokpota P, Daube G, Korsak N, and Sessou P (2025) Global prevalence and antibiotic resistance profiles of bacterial pathogens in table eggs: A systematic review and meta-analysis, Veterinary World, 18(4): 939-954.

Received: 17-01-2025 Accepted: 17-03-2025 Published online: 23-04-2025

Corresponding author: Philippe Sessou E-mail: sessouphilippe@yahoo.fr

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2025.939-954

Copyright: Hinson, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.