Bacteriological Analysis of Suya Sold in Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria

Five (5) suya samples were collected from different suya vendors at Awka, Anambra State. The bacteriological analysis of the samples were carried out using standard methods. Bacteria that were isolated include Proteus mirabilis (8.49%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.57%), Bacillus cereus (10.07%), Bacillus licheniformis (7.69%), Proteus vulgaris (11.67%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (12.47%), Salmonella typhi (14.06%) and Escherichia coli (0.79%), Bacillus subtilis (13.79%) and Staphylococcus aureus (15.38%). It was observed that the suya sample 4 collected from a suya vendor at Aroma junction gave the highest bacterial count of 10.7x104 while the suya sample 3 collected from a suya vendor at Ifite gave the lowest bacterial count of 3.8x105. Following the outcome of the findings from the research, it has being vividly proven that suya sold in Awka are highly contaminated with different bacteria. Evidently, some of the organisms isolated from the samples are human pathogens as well as commensals or opportunistic pathogens with great tendency of causing infection to the body especially in immune-compromised individuals. The contaminations could have being caused by the use of contaminated tools, improper cooking as well as poor sanitary conditions in the course of its preparation and selling.