Ashraf M A Barakat
National Research Center, Egypt
Title: Major bacterial fish borne zoonosis isolated from undercooked, smoked and salted Egyptian fishes
Biography
Biography: Ashraf M A Barakat
Abstract
Methodology: A total of 425 fish samples were collected. Fresh Tilapia spp. (n=88), Barbecue Tilapia spp. (n=56), Barbecue Mackerel spp. (n=24), smoked (n=45) and salted Molouha (n=135), Faseikh (n=37) and Sardine spp. (n=40) were randomly obtained from retail fish shops in Alexandria, Ismailia, Cairo, Giza and Aswan governorates-Egypt. 2 mL of aseptic homogenate was prepared from 20 grams of each collected fish sample, which were used to spread in the growth media.
Results: Enumeration and isolation of the bacteria and moulds were done on salt agar, high-salt casein agar, and nutrient agar with 3% NaCl. Fish samples were recorded overall contamination values were: 10.2% in fresh fishes, 10.7% in barbecue Tilapia spp. , 8.3% in barbecue Mackerel, 22% in smoked fishes, 54.1% in salted Molouha, in 57.7% salted Faseikh and 30% in salted Sardine. Also, the overall occurrences of the different pathogens with their average bacterial count/gram tissue (ABC/gt) were: 40% Xerophilic mould (4x103), 14% Listeria monocytogenes (6x102), 8% Salmonella spp. (9x 102), 9% E. coli (7x102), 15% V. parahaemolyticus (3x103), 22% Staphylococcus aureus (2x 103) and 28% Halophilic bacteria (6x 103). No coliforms and Salmonella spp. were detected in salted fishes, Molouha, Faseikh and Sardine. The optimum NaCl range for growth was 2-10% among isolates. While the optimum range of pH was found to be 7-9. The optimal growth temperature of isolates was 30°C.
Conclusion: From this study we concluded that bacteria and mould zoonosis have been identified over the permissible limits in Egyptian salted and smoked fishes higher than the fresh and undercooked ones, which reflects public health hazards and the necessity of extraordinary Egyptian health supervision and establishment of microbiological standards for safety consumes.