Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in foods of animal origin in Ethiopia: A meta-analysis

Escherichia coli O157 is one of the causes of gastrointestinal diseases in developed countries causing millions of illness annually. The occurrence of Escherichia coli in foods of animal origin in Ethiopia is arguably high due to many reasons like illegal slaughtering of animals in open fields, unhygienic slaughter practices in the abattoirs, and the risk of disease due to this organism is high because of a widespread tradition of raw meat consumption. The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to pool estimates of the prevalence of the organism in different foods of animal origin which is the first of its kind in the country. The literature search was conducted to identify all published articles reporting the prevalence of Escherichia coli in foods of animal origin. From all screened articles, nine studies were eligible for final systematic review and meta-analysis. Because substantial heterogeneity was expected, random-effects meta-analyses were carried out to pool the prevalence of the organism from different foods of animal origin. Prevalence of the organism was found to be 4% (95% CI = 3%-5%) in foods of animal origin. This systematic review and meta-analysis showed the level of contamination of foods of animal origin in Ethiopia is high indicating the need for immediate planning of mitigation strategies and detection methods to reduce its level and impact throughout the country.