Five hundred diarrhoeal stool samples from the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital were investigated for enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Results showed that the organism was endemic in Port Harcourt metropolis and was responsible for about 15% of the incidence of infantile diarrhoea in the community. Detailed analysis revealed that 13 serotypes were involved. It was also observed that babies aged between 0 and 18 months were more susceptible than those aged between 19 and 36 months. Male infants were also shown to be more at risk than females. Antibiotic sensitivity tests showed that the enteropathogenic E. coli isolated were highly resistant to most common antimicrobial drugs but were highly sensitive to genticin and cefotaxime.
Coagulase-positive Staphylococcus aureus were isolated from 449 (84.7%) of 530 meat and related samples obtained from traditional markets in Nigeria. All 100 fresh beef and associated 40 wash water and 40 drip water samples examined yielded coagulase-positive S. aureus compared with 258 (86%) of 300 Suya and 61 (61%) of 100 fried beef samples. Of the 449 coagulase-positive strains of S. aureus, 243 (54.1%) elaborated various enterotoxins. Suya (condiment - coated thin slices of skewered beef roasted over wood or charcoal flame) and fried beef yielded the highest proportions of enterotoxin producing strains of 59.3% and 58%, respectively. Relatively lower proportions of strains from fresh beef (52%) and water associated with fresh beef (45%) produced enterotoxin. Most of the organisms tested (139/57.2%) synthesized enterotoxin A (SEA). A few, 37 (15.2%), produced enterotoxin B (SEB), with fewer still producing enterotoxins D (SED, 6.2%) and C (SEC, 5.3%). It is suggested that the high level of contamination with S. aureus of the samples examined resulted from cross contamination, reflecting excessive hand contact with the foodstuffs.
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