title: Microbiological quality and potential public health risks of export meat from springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis) in Namibia.
abstract: To assess the microbiological quality and safety of export game meat; i) a total of 80 pooled meat samples for aerobic plate count (APC) and Enterobacteriaceae ii) water used in harvesting and processing for microbiological quality and iii) meat and rectal contents for Salmonella spp. and Shiga toxin Escherichia coli (STEC) were evaluated in 2009 and 2010. No differences (p>0.05) in the APCs were observed between the years, but the mean Enterobacteriaceae count for 2009 was 1.33 ± 0.69 log(10)cfu/cm(2) compared to 2.93 ± 1.50 log(10)cfu/cm(2) for 2010. Insignificant Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) levels were detected in 9/23 field water samples, while fecal bacterial (coliforms, Clostridium perfringens and enterococci) were absent in all samples. No Salmonella spp. was isolated and all E. coli isolates from meat were negative for STEC virulence genes (stx1, stx2, eae and hlyA), suggesting a negligible role by springbok in the epidemiology of STEC and Salmonella.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Maitland 7602, South Africa. gwedas@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Magwedere
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shilangale
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Mbulu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hemberger
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dziva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000866:Antelopes; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D058491:Bacterial Load; D002417:Cattle; D003132:Commerce; D004032:Diet; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D012306:Risk; D012475:Salmonella; D022621:Shiga Toxin
chemical_list: D022621:Shiga Toxin