Prevalence of Foodborne Pathogens in Food Items in Quetta, Pakistan

Foodborne pathogens pose a great health risk globally. This study was conducted to examine the prevalence of deadly food contaminants like Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni and E. coli (O157: H7) in various types of food items consumed locally. Total of 800 most common food samples such as chicken, beef meat, raw milk, vegetables and salad samples were collected from retail market, the overall contamination of food samples with infectious agents was 48.37%. Campylobacter jejuni was recorded much higher (28.99%) compared to other foodborne pathogens. Food samples were also found positive for Salmonella spp. (19%), E. coli (O157: H7) (8%) and 1.25% for Listeria monocytogenes. 5% tested food samples were found co-infected with at least two pathogens. The results urge to adopt proper food hygiene practices to reduce the incidence of food-borne diseases.