Prevalence of salmonella, escherichia coli O157:H7, listeria monocytogenes and staphylococcus aureus in raw beef in Kelantan.

Foodborne illness caused by Salmonella, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus associated with the consumption of undercooked beef or foods containing beef have been reported worldwide. In Kelantan, slaughtering of cattle in backyard slaughterhouse is common practice because there are limited numbers of government abattoir. The objectives of this study were to; i) Determine the bacteriological quality of raw beef, ii) Determine the prevalence of foodborne bacteria (Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes and S. aureus) in raw beef from retail stores, backyard slaughterhouses and government abattoirs, iii) Determine the antibiotic resistant pattern of the bacteria. Raw beef samples were collected from different types of premises and subjected to TPC, coliform count and analysis for Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes and S. aureus. The bacteria were then subjected to antibiotic susceptibility test by using the standard disc diffusion method (Kirby-Bauer). Eleven of 23 (47.8%) raw beef from retail stores had TPC above the acceptable limit (<1.0 x 106 cfu/g). Whereas none of 19 (0%) raw beef from government abattoir had TPC above the acceptable limit. Eighteen of 23 (78.3%) beef samples from retail store had coliform count above the acceptable limit (1000 mpn/g). Whereas one of 19 (5.3%) raw beef from government abattoir had coliform count above the acceptable limit. Salmonella spp. was detected in 44.0% (11/25), 16.7% (2/12), 5.3% (1/19) of raw beef from retail stores, backyard slaughterhouses and government abattoir respectively. Of 14 Salmonella isolated, the most common were S. Mbandaka (5/14), S. Weltevreden (5/14) followed by S. Albany (4/14).