PREVALENCE OF Staphylococcus aureus AND Bacillus cereus IN READY-TO-EAT GAME MEAT SOLID IN DIFFERENT CITIES IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Safety of meat and meat products is a key issue of public health concern. Game meat is readily available to people in various open marketplaces of Nigeria, but the safety and consistency of such game-meat is always unknown and can be affected either by physical, biological and chemicals hazards. However, ready-to-eat (RTE) game meat can be a potential source of transmission of foodborne diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Bacillus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus in game meat sold in various cities within southwestern Nigeria. Isolation and Identification of these two pathogens associated with game meat were performed using culture method and molecular technique respectively. A total of 55 samples were analyzed for the presence of Bacillus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus. It was observed that the microbial counts was very high in all the game meat sampled from various states. The isolates were confirmed by the presence of the 16SrRNA gene using Simplex PCR. The presence of Bacillus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus, in game meat from various states in Nigeria is a public health concern which could lead to foodborne illnesses such as bacteremia, endocarditis, diarrhea, septicemia and food poisoning.