Studies on foodborne bacteria in commercially hawked ready-to-eat fish in Jos and its environments

Studies on foodborne bacteria in hawked fish (Trachurus capensis) were carried out with 200 flesh and 24 surface swab samples collected at various selling points in Jos and surrounding suburbs. The samples were separately cultured in bacteriological broth and agar media. The isolates were identified and their viable counts determined. The analysis gave the following bacteria species: Escherichia coli, 26 (16.8%); Bacillusspecies, 25 (16%); Shigella species, 22 (14.2%); Staphylococcus aureus, 19 (12.6%);Proteus species, 12 (7.7%); Klebsiella species, 8 (5.2%); Neisseria catarrhalis, 6 (3.9%); Staphylococcus epidermidis, 4 (2.6%); Streptococcus faecalis, 4 (2.6%); Enterobacter species, 4 (2.6%); Pseudomonas species, 2 (1.2%); Lactobacillusspecies, 2 (1.2%) and Citrobacter species, 1 (0.6%). These results show the bacteria load species distribution in the hawked fish. The result is quite informative with respect to public health hazard and calls for urgent improvement in sanitation maintenance of good hygiene by food producers, handlers and vendors in the study area as a possible control measure through the processing chain.   Key words: Foodborne bacteria, Fish, Trachurus capensis, bacterial load, Public Health.