This study was conducted to characterize virulence genes of Escherichia coli isolates from water, sediment, fish, and crab in Aby Lagoon. Serogrouping was performed by EPEC antisera in 113 E. coli strains. The presence of diarrhea-associated genes (eae, stx, AggR, elt, and est) was assessed by multiplex PCR using specific primers. Based on the multiplex PCR, sixty-two isolates (42 from water, 19 from sediment, and 1 from crab) were positive for virulence genes, including 34 positive for elt (ETEC), 46 positive for est (ETEC), 24 positive for both elt and est, 6 positive for stx (EHEC), 1 positive for both stx + est, and 1 positive for both stx + elt. Genes eae (EPEC) and AggR (EAEC) were not detected. Nine serogroups (O114, O127, O55, O111, O86, O119, O126, O128, and O142) were identified. This study revealed the presence of diarrheagenic and nondiarrheagenic E. coli and potential public health risks if fishery products are not appropriately cooked.

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In Côte d'Ivoire, the absence of legislation in university catering increases the risk of collective food poisoning. The aim of this study was to assess the level of contamination of cooked meals in university catering in the city of Abidjan. To do this, 160 cooked meals samples were taken in the two public universities of Abidjan. The search of mesophilic aerobic germs; Enterobacteriaceae and of Staphylococcus aureus was carried out. The results showed that in general, the microbial loads of the cooked meals analyzed were higher than the criteria required by the regulations. 40.33% of the presumptive Staphylococcus aureus strains tested are confirmed. 20 species belonging to 14 genera of Enterobacteriaceae were isolated from the different cooked meals. The species most frequently isolated from cooked meals is Klebsiella pneumoniae (19.4%) followed by Klebsiella oxytoca (17%) and Serratia liquefaciens (14.5%). In general, efforts still need to be made to improve the level of hygiene in institutional catering and commercial catering. Constant monitoring of the application of hygienic rules must be instituted, in order to prevent the occurrence of food poisoning. The use of microbiologic results of cooked meals in the universities will provide an example for similar collective catering.