ABSTRACT

Presence of microorganism in ready to eat foods sold by canteens vendors making them hazardous for human consumption has become both health and food borne concern. The work was aimed of determining the presence of Salmonella specie and E. coli and also the possibility of isolating other organism which may be of public health importance in canteens in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia state was conducted. All the food samples (salad, moi-moi, African salad and Rice) were analyzed using pour plate method and were tested against antibiotics using the disc diffusion method. The total viable count ranged from 5.71x104cfu/ml (African salad) to 1.3x105cfu/ml (salad). The highest E. coli count was found in the food sample salad (5.02x104cfu/ml) and the lowest in moi moi (2.7x104cfu/ml). E. coli had the highest level of occurrence of 25 (41.67%), followed by Salmonella spp with 17(28.33%), Enerobacter specie with 8(13.33%), then Proteus 6 (10%) and finally Klebsiella 4(6.67%), making the total number of isolates 60. Ready to eat foods contain indigenous microflora and other pathogens such as E.coli, Salmonella, Klebsiella, Enterobacter and Proetus. Most of the pathogens isolated were sensitive to oflaxacin, gentamycin and Nalidixic acid while some were resistant to contrimoxazole and tetracycline. Good hygiene practices should be encouraged among vendors before, during and after food preparation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page i

Certification ii

Declaration iii

Dedication iv

Acknowledgments v

Table of Contents vi

List of Tables ix

Abstract x

CHAPTER ONE

1.0   Introduction 1

1.1    Aims and Objectives 3

CHAPTER TWO

2.0    Literature Review 4

2.1   Salmonella as disease- causing agents. 4

2.2    Enteritis salmonella or food poisoning salmonella. 4

2.3    Sources of infection 5

2.4    Role as normal micro biota. 6

2.5   Role in disease. 6

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Materials and Method 7

3.1    Study Area Location 7

3.2    Collection of Sample. 7

3.3    Preparation of Sample 7

3.4    Materials 7

3.5    Bacteriological Analysis 9

3.5.1 Levine’s eosin methylene Blue agar 9

3.5.2 Salmonella-shigella agara (SSA) 9

3.5.3 MacConkey agar (MCA) 9

3.5.4 Nutrient agar (NA) 10

3.6    Microbiological Biochemical Identification 10

3.6.1.   Gram Staining 10

3.6.2   Indole test.  11

3.6.3   Citrate Utilization test 11

3.6.4    Gelatin Liquefaction Test  11

3.6.5    Triple Sugar Iron agar Test 11

3.6.6    Motility and Orinthine Test 11

3.7    Antibiotics Sensitivity Test 12

3.8 Microbial Load 13

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Results 14

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Discussion 19

5.1 Summary 21

5.2 Recommendation 21

5.3 Conclusions 21

References 23