Biressaw Serda, Asayegn Bekele and Daniel Abebe
A cross sectional study was conducted from August, 2014 to February 2015 aimed to determine the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus in raw camel milk and to assess risk factors. The study was conducted on a total of 384 bulk milk samples from three critical points. For this study both laboratory and questionnaire based data were collected. The overall prevalence of S. aureus was found to be 11.45% (44/384). The frequency of isolation of S. aureus varied between sources of sample and ranged from 7-15%. The prevalence of S. aureus was 7.03% (9/128), 11.71% (15/128) and 15% (20/128) from household, primary collection centers and selling sites, respectively. The raw camel milk samples were contaminated and the S. aureus counts markedly variable among samples at different sampling points. Mean S. aureus count was found to be 4.2 × 104 CFU/ml and the mean count of the samples at household was 8.9 × 102 CFU/ml, 9.9 × 103 CFU/ml at primary collection centers and 1.1 × 105 CFU/ml at selling sites. The difference was not statistically significant between the sampling points (p>0.05). In the study area, camel milk is consumed (100%) in its raw state without being subjected to any sort of processing treatment. The outcome of the present results suggests that, the examined raw camel milk samples were produced and handled under poor hygienic conditions with high health risk to the consumers. Consumption of raw camel milk should be of major concern from public health point of view. This study recommends for urgent development and adaptation of feasible and sustainable interventions to improve the camel milk hygiene and safety in study area and to mitigate staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) in the region.
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