article · Greener Journal of Microbiology and Antimicrobials
In northern Nigeria, street-vended fried grasshoppers are widely consumed, yet they can harbour pathogenic bacteria. An investigation into 250 samples of ready-to-eat fried grasshoppers sold across Gombe metropolis evaluated the presence of Salmonella species, their potential to form biofilms, and their susceptibility to common antibiotics. Laboratory screening revealed that 36 percent of samples carried Salmonella species. Among these positive isolates, 20 percent exhibited biofilm formation potential. When tested against standard antibiotics, these biofilm-forming strains demonstrated substantial resistance, with 50 percent resistant to amoxycillin, 44.4 percent resistant to tetracycline, and a third resistant to chloramphenicol and ceftriaxone. Strains also resisted streptomycin, trimethoprim, and ciprofloxacin. Because biofilms shield bacteria against host immunity and antimicrobial treatments, the presence of these multidrug-resistant pathogens in popular ready-to-eat street foods presents a serious public health hazard requiring stricter food hygiene enforcement.
Fried grasshoppers are an important, highly consumed food source, particularly for women and children in parts of northern Nigeria. The presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria capable of forming protective biofilms on ready-to-eat snacks poses a severe risk of persistent, difficult-to-treat infections. These findings underline the urgent need to monitor informal food vending and enforce basic hygiene standards to protect consumer health.
The abstract outlines early-stage surveillance research rather than a marketable technology. The findings provide evidence relevant to public health regulators and local food safety authorities seeking to design and enforce compliance frameworks, such as good hygiene and manufacturing practices for informal food vendors. The abstract does not indicate an application pathway for commercial product development.
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Due to their ability to resist antibiotics, bacterial biofilms are a serious global problem for public health. Their resistance to host immunity and other external stress immensely contributes to their chronic infections. The market potential for fried grasshopper consumed by women and children overtakes that of meat in many parts of Northern Nigeria and can serve as reservoir for biofilm forming pathogenic bacteria. The objective of this study was to detect Salmonella spp. from exposed fried grasshopper vended in Gombe metropolis, assess their antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation potential (BFP). A total of 250 samples of exposed RTE fried grasshopper were purchased from different locations in Gombe metropolis in sterile containers. They were homogenized in Rappaport Vassiliadis Salmonella enrichment broth and spread plated on selective Salmonella-Shigella agar. Positive samples were Gram stained and further subjected to biochemical identifications. The confirmed isolates were subjected to assessment for biofilm formation potential (BFP) using Congo red agar assay technique and then to antibiotic susceptibility testing to commonly used antibiotics. Of the 250 samples obtained, 36% (n=90) were positive for Salmonella spp. out of which 20% (n=18) had biofilm formation potential. A 50% (n=9) of the isolates with BFP were resistant to Amoxycillin; 16.7% (n=3) to Ciprofloxacin, 33.3% (n=6) to Chloramphenicol, 27.8% (n=5) to Streptomycin, 33.3% (n=6) to Ceftriaxone, 44.4% (n=8) to Tetracycline and 22.2% (n=4) to Trimethoprim. Multidrug resistant Salmonella spp. with BFP can serve as a serious threat to the health of consumers and generality of public health. Awareness and enforcement of public health laws governing good hygiene practices (GHPs) and good manufacturing practices (GMPs) are thus imperative to achieving food safety.
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DOI: 10.15580/gjma.2025.1.061725104
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