Prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in street vended ready-to-eat meats in Windhoek, Namibia

To determine the prevalence of pathogenic bacteria in street vended ready-to-eat meats in Windhoek, Namibia, a total of 96 street vended ready to eat meat samples were evaluated. Prevalences of 42%, 52%, 15%, 6% and 83% were observed for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella and Enterobacteriaceae respectively, while the highest aerobic plate counts were 7.74 Log₁₀ cfu/g, 5.67 Log₁₀ cfu/g, 5.12 Log₁₀ cfu/g_, 4.56 Log₁₀ cfu/g, 3.3 Log₁₀ cfu/g, 5.75 Log₁₀ cfu/g respectively. Unsatisfactory microbial levels were 32% for aerobic plate count, 26% for Enterobacteriaceae, 35% for Escherichia coli, 11% for Listeria monocytogenes, 7% for Staphylococcus aureus and 6% for Shigella. Salmonella was detected in 11% and 40% of samples from two suburbs. The unsatisfactory microbiological quality of some ready-to-eat meats necessitates the provision of training on food safety and hygiene to street vendors for consumer protection.