Abstract
Chicken meat is one of the predominantly consumed foods of animal origin in Nigeria with constant increase in demand normally met by local retail market. Processed chicken at the retail chicken meat markets in Abuja were screened for the presence of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) strains. A total of 273 faecal samples were collected using moistened sterile swabs and processed for E. coli isolation following standard cultural and biochemical procedures. Isolated E. coli samples were cultured on sorbitol McConkey (SMAC) and cefiximetellurite sorbitol McConkey (CT-SMAC) agar to assess their ability to ferment sorbitol. Samples were further characterized using commercially procured dry spot polyvalent serocheck and specific seroscreen agglutination test kits. Two (0.73%) of the samples tested positive to O157VTEC, while 5 (1.83%) tested positive to non-O157VTEC. There was no significant association (p>0.05) between VTEC infection and season. The study indicated that processed chicken meat sold at the retail chicken market may serve as a potential vehicle for the spread of VTEC infection and other food borne pathogens. Consumer food safety education is important in control programmes. Key words: Occurrence, verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC), processed chicken, retail market, strain.
Highlights
Since the first isolation of E. coli O157:H7 from an outbreak of human bloody diarrhea in 1982, it has been reported from hundreds of sporadic cases and outbreaks in more than thirty countries of the world (Carter et al, 1987)
Meat obtained from farmed and wild game animals contaminated with verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) has the potential to cause infections in humans, while most of these E. coli infections are caused by E. coli O157:H7, 20 – 70% of VTEC infections throughout the world are attributed to non-O157 VTEC (Brooks et al, 2005)
Non sorbitol fermenting (NSF) isolates that appear as colourless or neutral gray with smokey center and 1-2 mm in diameter on the two plates were presumptive of Escherichia coli O157, while sorbitol fermenting (SF) isolates that appear pinkish in colour were presumptive of E. coli non-O157 (Zadik et al, 1993)
Summary
Since the first isolation of E. coli O157:H7 from an outbreak of human bloody diarrhea in 1982, it has been reported from hundreds of sporadic cases and outbreaks in more than thirty countries of the world (Carter et al, 1987). Meat obtained from farmed and wild game animals contaminated with VTEC has the potential to cause infections in humans, while most of these E. coli infections are caused by E. coli O157:H7, 20 – 70% of VTEC infections throughout the world are attributed to non-O157 VTEC (Brooks et al, 2005). Live chicks and chicken including their products have been imported and distributed among poultry farmers in all parts of the country. This may lead to introduction of the organism into the environment and to the food chain the need to investigate the organism in processed chicken. The study is aimed at investigating the occurrence of VTEC O157 and non O157 in processed chicken from retail chicken market in Abuja, FCT, Nigeria in order to evaluate their zoonotic potentials
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