DETECTION OF ESCHERICHIA COLI O157:H7 FROM “FURA DA NONO” SOLD IN ZARIA, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Sammani Auwalu1*, 2Maikaji F.S, 3Yusuf Hameedat
Page No. 6-11

‘Fura da nono’ is a commonly food drink in northern part of Nigeria that is mostly consumed by almost all group of people in the country to include both young, adult and aged ones. The research work was aimed at determining the prevalence of E.coli O157:H7 from ‘fura da nono’. A total of 228 ready-to-take ‘fura da nono’ samples were collected from Samaru, Sabongari and Tudun-wada markets. Proximate composition was carried out to determine the % moisture, ash content, protein content, fat and carbohydrate of the sample. Total viable count was also carried out in order to determine the microbial load. Escherichia coli O157:H7 was isolated using cultural method and confirmed using latex agglutination test. The results obtained revealed that the ‘fura da nono’ samples collected from Samaru market had the highest count of 1.59x108±62.91cfu/ml, followed by that collected from Tudun-wada market had a count of 1.07x108±44.94cfu/ml, while ‘fura da nono’ samples from Sabongari market has the least count of 6.65x107±24.90 cfu/ml. The prevalence of E.coli O157:H7 was found to be 0.88% (2/228). As such, the food drink ‘fura da nono’ used for the study can be contaminated with pathogenic microorganism such as E.coli O157:H7 whose detection in food poses a threat to the health of the consumers. Strict hygienic measures should be adhered to when preparing ‘fura da nono’.
Key words: fura da nono’, E.coli O157:H7, Zaria