Multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. in quail eggs from Lima, Peru: Local surveillance and global meta-analysis of prevalence.

Lima, a global gastronomic destination, faces biosafety risks due to the presence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens in its food supply. Quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) eggs are highly nutritious and versatile. However, local surveillance and global evidence on their microbiological safety remain scarce and fragmented. To address these gaps, this study investigated the occurrence and antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli in quail eggs sold in Lima, integrating findings into a global systematic review and meta-analysis, following PRISMA guidelines. For the local study, 125 eggs were collected via cluster sampling (n = 25 distributors), while the meta-analysis synthesized data from 15 international studies (2000-2025) systematically retrieved from five databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, and Google Scholar). Prevalence and 95% Credible Intervals (CrI) were estimated through Bayesian inference for the local data, and a random-effects model was used for the global synthesis. Salmonella spp. was absent locally (95% CrI: 0-1.52), consistent with the low global pooled prevalence of 2.09% (95% CI: 0.00-7.75), although high heterogeneity was observed (I2 = 96.6%, p < 0.0001). Conversely, E. coli was isolated from 1.6% (95% CrI: 0.33-5.03) of local eggs, sitting below the global pooled average of 10.38% (95% CI: 2.34-22.63; I2 = 94%, p < 0.0001), with a local distributor-level prevalence of 8.0% (95% CrI: 1.70-23.27). All isolates (3/3) were MDR, showing resistance to neomycin, erythromycin, clindamycin, cefotaxime, and ciprofloxacin. Quail eggs may serve as reservoirs for dangerous strains within traditional and global supply chains.