Occurrence and public health importance of some microorganisms in edible offals

ABSTRACT

100 samples of raw edible offals [25 samples each of heart, liver, rumen and intestine] were examined for enumeration of Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococci and also for isolation and identification of Enterobacteriaceae organisms. Examination of the samples revealed that the average count of Enterobacteriaceae and Staph. aureus was 2 x 10[4] and 5 x 10[2], 4 x 10[4] and 4 x 10[3], 7 x 10[5] and 2 x 10[4], and 2 x 10[6] and 4 x 10[4] per gram samples of heart, liver, rumen and intestine, respectively, while the average count of Streptococcus faecalis per gram of the same examined samples was 2 x 10[3], 9 x 10[3], 2 x 10[4] and 6 x 10[4], respectively. The public health importance of isolated microorganisms as well as the suggested hygienic measures to improve the quality of raw edible offals were discussed