Incidence of several pathogens and staphylococcal enterotoxins in Kariesh cheese

One hundred samples of Kariesh cheese were randomly collected from Fayoum markets and examined for the incidence of enterococci, coliform organisms, staphylococci, Salmonella and detection of staphylococcal enterotoxins A, B, C, and D. The average total count was 16.4 x 10(7) c.f.u./gm. Coliform bacteria were present in the all the examined, samples with an average of 18.9 x 10(3) c.f.u./gm. However, all samples were free from salmonella. Faecal streptococci and staphylococci were also found in average numbers of (16 x 10(5) c.f.u./gm and 92 x 10(3) c.f.u./gm). Enterotoxins A, B, C and D were not detected in any of the samples tested.