Bacteriological quality and antimicrobial resistance profile of foodborne bacteria isolated from grilled meat sold in port Harcourt Nigeria

Street-vended grilled meats have gained popularity due to their convenient availability, affordability, diverse selection, and nutritional benefits. However, vendors' substandard handling practices raise concerns about their safety. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bacteriological quality and antimicrobial resistance profile of foodborne pathogenic bacteria isolated from grilled pork and beef purchased from five areas in Port Harcourt, Nigeria (Aluu, Choba, Alakhia, Rumuosi, and Rumuekini). The grilled pork samples exhibited a maximum Total Viable Count (TVC) of log10 7.40 CFU/g and a maximum Total Coliform Count (TCC) of log10 5.43 CFU/g. The Total Viable Count (TVC) and Total Coliform Count (TCC) of grilled beef are log10 6.06 CFU/g and log10 5.88 CFU/g, respectively. These values exceeded the log10 4.00 CFU/g acceptable limit. The five pathogenic bacteria isolated from grilled pork and beef meats were Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Streptococcus species. The rates of prevalence were 45.6, 32.0, 10.9, 4.08, and 7.5% for pork meat, and 59.8, 19.6, 9.3, 4.1, and 7.2% for beef meat. Antibiotic resistance of the pathogens ranged from 2.9–86.6% for pork and 5.2–79.3% for beef samples. The bacterial isolates showed higher resistance to ampiclox, amoxicillin, streptomycin, and gentamycin. The lowest resistance was observed for ciclopirox olamine and cephaloridine. The bacterial pathogens demonstrated a variety of Multiple Antibiotic Resistance (MAR) indices, falling between 0.4 and 0.9. Therefore, we recommend proper hygienic conditions before and after meat preparation to prevent them from being potential sources of infection for the public.