Occurrence of Escherichia coli O157 in Retailed-Beef and Related Meat Products in Zaria, Nigeria

Salome Y. Tafida, Jacob K. P. Kwaga, Mohammed Bello, Junaidu Kabir, Veronica J. Umoh, Sabo E. Yakubu, Andrew J. Nok

Centre for Biotechnology Research and Training, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
Department of Livestock and Pest Control Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Gombe, Nigeria.
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/fns.2014.56057                

Abstract

This study evaluated retailed-beef and related meat products for E. coli O157 in Zaria, Nigeria. Sample types included raw meat, “suya” (roasted meat), “balangu” (barbequed meat), “kilishi” (spiced sun dried meat) and “dambu” (shredded fried meat). A total of 182 samples were analyzed for E. coli O157. Isolates were characterized using conventional biochemical methods and Microbact 12E test kit. Susceptibilities of the isolates to 18 commonly used antimicrobial agents were determined by the disk diffusion method. The carriage of stx1 and stx2 genes was determined by PCR. Microbact confirmed 4 E. coli isolates. All isolates exhibited multiple drug resistance to the antimicrobial agents tested. An overall prevalence of 2.2% was obtained for E. coli O157. All 4 isolates of E. coli O157 were isolated from raw meat; two of which harboured the stx1 gene.

Keywords

E. coli O157; Meat Products; Multiple Drug Resistance; Food Safety

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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