Abstract

Enterobacteriaceae were isolated from tripe purchased from five butcher shops within the Mafikeng Municipality. Samples were subjected to bacteriological examination using standard methods. Mean counts (log₁₀ cfu/g) obtained from bleached and unbleached tripe samples for aerobic plate counts (5.62 and 7.00),Enterobacteriaceae (4.09 and 4.61), Pseudomonas (4.20 and 4.57), lactic acid bacteria (2.15 and 2.35) and Micrococci/Staphylococci (3.82 and 5.61) were noted. Enterobacteriaceae on Violet Red Bile Agar were identified as; Enterobacter spp.,Escherichia spp., Klebsiella spp., Serratia spp., Providencia stuartii (0.85%), Hafnia alvei (7.63%), Citrobacter spp., Salmonella arizonae (3.39%), Erwinia spp. (0.85%), Moellerella wisconsensis (3.39%), Pantoea spp. (0.85%), and Yersinia kristensii(0.85%). A large percentage of Enterobacteriaceae (98.48%) strains tested against nine antibiotics showed resistance to one or more. Some species from the generaSerratia, Enterobacter and Escherichia coli were resistant to seven out of the nine antibiotics. Highest resistance patterns were observed against nalidixic acid (96.4%) and ampicillin (75%). All isolates were susceptible to gentamicin and ciprofloxacin. Inadequate processing of bovine tripe sold at some butcher shops in Mafikeng poses a potential health risk to consumers due to their poor bacteriological quality and high frequency of antibiotic resistant agents. Resistant strains can be passed to the human population via consumption of such products.

Key words: Enterobacteriaceae, bacteriological quality, tripe, bleached, unbleached, antibiotic resistance.