Assuring the Safety of Local and Imported Beef Meat from Different Slaughterhouses in Egypt

Abstract

The current study was applied to investigate E. coli and Staph. aureus counts as well as serodiagnosis of E. coli, Salmonellae isolates and determination of enterotoxin production by Staph. aureus in 100 random local and imported fresh beef samples, from different slaughterhouses at Cairo and Giza Governorates. Staph. aureus was isolated from 22(44%) and 20 (40%) of examined local and imported meat samples respectively. E. coli was found in 40 (80%) and 34(68%) in examined local and imported meat samples, respectively. Staph. aureus enterotoxin types (A & D) were detected in two strains out of 5 randomly selected isolates from local meat only (20% of each). E. coli, one strain (20%) was isolated from fresh local meat; and classified as Enteropathogenic (EPEC), while two strains (40%) were Enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) "O111:H2", one strain (20%) was Enterotoxigenic (ETEC) "O15:H4". On the other hand, one strain of E. coli (20%) isolated from imported meat was classified as Enteropathogenic (EPEC) and its serodiagnosis was O128:H2, while one strains (20%) was Enterohaemorrhagic (EHEC) "O26:H11" which harbored both (stx1 and stx2) genes and finally, the 3 rd strain (20%) was Enteroinvasive (EIEC) "O159". Meanwhile, Salmonella spp. was isolated from two samples (4%) of examined local meat; one strain was identified as S.