Isolation of Salmonella Species from Milk and Locally Processed Milk Products Traded for Human Consumption and Associated Risk Factors in Kanam, Plateau State, Nigeria

This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Salmonella species in milk and locally processed milk products traded for human consumption and assess the risk factors associated with Salmonella milk contamination in the study area. The study utilized microbiological culture and isolation as well as questionnaire analysis. A total of 600 samples were studied, 200 each for fresh milk (madara), full creamed milk (kindirmo) and skimmed milk (nono). The study revealed an overall prevalence of 8.7% (52/600). About 0.2% (1/600), 3.0% (18/600), 1.0% (6/600), 2.0% (12/600) and 2.5% (15/600) of the overall prevalence were recorded in Dengi, Gargah, Kanam, Gagdi and Gidgid districts of the Local Government Area (LGA) respectively. This revealed a high level of statistical significance (P < 0.05). Prevalence rates in relation to milk type were 6.4% (38/600), 1.5% (9/600) and 0.8% (5/600) for fresh milk, full creamed milk and skimmed milk respectively. This showed a high level of statistical significance (P < 0.05). Based on sources of water used for milk processing, prevalence rates were 6.8% (41/600), 1.7% (10/600) and 0.2% (1/600) for stream water, well water and borehole water respectively. These differences were highly significant statistically (P < 0.05). Risk factors analysis revealed that 31.3% (188/600) of the respondents were not aware of salmonellosis and 82.2% (493/600) were not aware of the risk of acquiring Salmonella via milk consumption. There were high association between the prevalence of Salmonella in milk and the risk of sucking milk directly from the udder of cows (P < 0.00001, OR = 8.7448), the use of stream water in processing milk (P=0.0001, OR = 3.6733) and failure to wash the udder of cows before milking (P=0.0041, OR = 0.2072). This study has revealed the presence of Salmonella species in milk traded for human consumption and the risk factors associated with their contamination in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria.