Isolation of bacteria from table eggs in Zambia

In 2 400 table eggs, purchased from 8 different retail outlets of Lusaka ci ty, Zambia, the frequency of bacterial isolation from the shell membrane an d yolk was determined. Bacterial genera (17) isolated from the shell membra nes were Escherichia coil (40.95%), Salmonella sp. (4.76%), Staphylococcus sp. (3.33%), Micrococcus sp. (5.24%), Pseudomonas sp. (0.95%), Klebsiella s p. (6.67%), Enterobacter sp. (3.81%), Citrobacter sp.(1.90%), Providencia s p. (3.81%), Serratia sp. (1.90%), Hafnia sp. (0.95%), Acinetobacter sp. (0. 95%), Proteus sp. (10.48%), Streptococcus sp. (2.38%), Alcaligenes sp. (6.6 7%), Flavobacterium sp. (2.86%), and Bacillus sp. (3.33%). The bacteria fro m the yolk included Escherichia coli (40.27%) Salmonella sp. (22.82%), Stap hylococcus sp. (2.01%), Micrococcus sp. (3.36%), Pseudomonas sp. (2.68%), K lebsiella sp. (6.04%), Citrobacter sp. (6.04%), Serratia sp. (7.38%), Prote us sp. (5.37%), Streptococcus sp. (0.67%), Alcaligenes sp. (2.01%) and Baci llus sp. (1.34%). This study demonstrated that the shell membranes were con taminated with a higher number of organisms than the yolk.