Occurrence of Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Vegetables Sold in Jos Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Vegetables contaminated with pathogens can cause food poisoning, and can serve as vehicles for transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 to humans. This study was therefore carried out to screen for the presence of O157:H7 strain of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli in vegetables eaten raw and sold at the various vegetable markets in Jos metropolis. A total of 80 samples of vegetables namely; cucumber (Cucumis sativus), lettuce (Lectuca sativa), tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicon) and cabbage (Brassica oleracae) were collected from popular vegetable markets in Jos metropolis and analyzed. All vegetables were contaminated with Escherichia coli were isolated from 13.8% (11/80) of the vegetable samples, 25% (5/20) of cucumber had the highest contamination while tomatoes had the lowest contamination of about 5% (1/20). Escherichia coli O157:H7 (18.2%) was detected among the Escherichia coli isolates. All the Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolates were detected in cucumber thus accounting for 40.0% (2/5) of the Escherichia coli-positive cucumber samples. The presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in these vegetables poses public health concern and calls for improved hygienic practices in vegetable production and handling because these vegetables receive little or no heat treatment before consumption.