Bacteriological Quality and Antimicrobial Resistant Patterns of Foodborne Pathogens Isolated from Commonly Vended Street Foods in Arba Minch Town, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background

Ready-to-eat foods sold by street vendors act as potential sources for the spread of various foodborne infectious diseases. Thus, local determination of the level of foodborne bacterial pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance pattern is essential.

Methods

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September 5th, 2022 to December 31th, 2022. The required data were collected by a structured questionnaire and observation checklist. Randomly selected street-vended foods were aseptically collected, and the bacteriological quality was assessed by using culture techniques. Different biochemical tests were used to identify and characterize bacterial isolates. The antimicrobial-resistant test for isolated foodborne bacterial pathogens was carried out by using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.

Results

A total of 34.2% (113/330) with a 95% CI of 29.1–39.4 of commonly consumed street-vended foods were identified as having unsatisfactory total mean aerobic bacterial counts (>10⁵ CFU/g; 4.3 × 10⁵ CFU/g). The mean total Enterobacteriaceae, coliform, and staphylococcal counts were found to be 1.4 × 10⁵ CFU/g, 2.4 × 10⁴ CFU/g, and 3.4 × 10⁴ CFU/g, respectively. A total of 12.7% (42/330) of foodborne pathogens were recovered attributed to Staphylococcus aureus (31, 9.4%), Salmonella species (6, 1.8%), and E. coli O157:H7 (5, 1.5%). 6.5% and 16.1% of isolated S. aureus were found to be methicillin-resistant and multidrug-resistant (MDR), respectively. Additionally, 33.3% of Salmonella isolates and 40% of E. coli O157:H7 isolates were found to be MDR.

Conclusion

Street-vended foods in this setting have a considerable number of unsatisfactory bacterial qualities, along with drug-resistant foodborne pathogens. Thus, more effective health education and training for vendors, regular inspections of vending sites, and regular surveillance of drug resistance patterns of foodborne pathogens are all essential.

Keywords:

• bacteriological quality
• street-vended foods
• Arba Minch
• Ethiopia

Abbreviation

ATCC, American Type Culture Collection; BPW, Buffered Peptone Water; CLSI, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute; CFU, Colony Forming Unit.

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request under the Ethics Committee’s approval.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the technical and financial support provided by the Arba Minch University Research Directorate. Our gratitude also goes out to the food vendors at a selected vending area in Arba Minch town for agreeing to take part in the research.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising, or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

The project was funded by the Arba Minch University Research Directorate.