Quantitative assessment of the risk linked to the consumption of braised beef meat “Choukouya” contaminated with pathogenic Clostridium perfringens in Côte D'Ivoire

Inadequate handling, processing and sales of meat products have resulted in microbial contamination responsible for most infectious human food-borne illness. The study conducted a stochastic assessment of the risk of infection linked to the consumption of braised beef meat “Choukouya” contaminated by Clostridium perfringens in Côte d'Ivoire. We conducted “Choukouya” consumers (n = 900) and vendors (n = 300) survey to characterize the actors behavior. 189 samples of “Choukouya” were collected and microbiologically analyzed according to French standard protocols NF V 08-061 and XPV 08-061. A risk model was developed and the risk of infection linked to the consumption of “Choukouya” was estimated by Monte Carlo simulation procedure. The consumer's surveys showed that the percentage of population consuming “Choukouya” was 74.4%, with an average consumption of 114.3 ± 0.5 g/person/intake. The microbiological analysis revealed the isolation of 70% of Clostridium perfringens in the vegetative form and 60.3% in sporulated form with an average loading of 3.7 ± 2.6 log10∙cfu/g and 1.1 ± 1.0 log10∙cfu/g respectively. The probability of ingesting a dose greater than 109 bacteria of Clostridium prefringens varied between 7.36% and 7.93%. The braised beef meat “Choukouya” sold in the streets of cities in Côte d'Ivoire represents a real risk of infection, and Clostridium perfringens is one of the causes. This risk could be mitigated by the establishment of good hygiene practices and adequate handling processes in this informal sector. (Résumé d'auteur