Research Article Assessment of the Contamination of Some Foodstuffs by Escherichia coli O157 in Benin, West Africa Honoré Sourou Bankole, 1,2 Victorien Tamègnon Dougnon, 2,3 Roch Christian Johnson, 3 T. J. Dougnon, 2 Boniface Yehouenou, 4 Sylvain Kougblenou, 1 Maxime Agonsa, 1 Magloire Legonou, 1 Thomas Dadie, 5 and Lamine Baba-Moussa 6 1 Department of Water and Food Hygiene, Ex-National Laboratory of Public Health, Ministry of Health, 01 P.O. Box, 418 Cotonou, Benin 2 Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi, Research Laboratory in Applied Biology, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 P.O. Box, 2009 Cotonou, Benin 3 Interfaculty Center of Training and Research in Environment for the Sustainable Development, Laboratory of Hygiene, Sanitation, Toxicology and Environmental Health, Laboratory of Toxicology and Environmental Health, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 P.O. Box, 1463 Cotonou, Benin 4 Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi, Research and Training Laboratory in Applied Chemistry, University of Abomey-Calavi, 01 P.O. Box, 2009 Cotonou, Benin 5 Training and Research Unit in Food Sciences and Technology, University of Nangui Abrogoua, 02 P.O. Box, Autoroute d’Abobo, 801 Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire 6 Laboratory of Biology and Molecular Typing in Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, University of Abomey-Calavi, 05 P.O. Box, 1604 Cotonou, Benin Correspondence should be addressed to Victorien Tam` egnon Dougnon; victorien88@hotmail.com Received 6 September 2014; Revised 19 October 2014; Accepted 20 October 2014; Published 24 November 2014 Academic Editor: Todd R. Callaway Copyright © 2014 Honor´ e Sourou Bankole et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Escherichia coli O157 is a pathogenic bacterium causing haemorrhagic colitis. It represents a serious public health problem in Northern America and Europe, which can plague Africa. Most cases of mentioned poisoning were related to contaminated meat products and vegetables. Te present work aimed to estimate the prevalence of E. coli O157 in meat and vegetables in Benin. For this purpose, 6 lots of faeces samples from pigs and 8 from cattle were collected at the farms on the outskirts of Cotonou. Similarly, 20 samples of carcasses, 20 samples of intestines and stomach, and 20 surfaces samples of slaughtering equipment were taken. Vegetables and environment materials in gardens have also been sampled for 84 samples. Bacteriological analyses revealed a percentage of contamination of 50% for pig faeces and 25% for cattle ones. All the meats from stalling parks have been contaminated by this bacterium. For vegetables, 14.6% of samples were contaminated by E. coli O157. Te presence of this pathovar in animal breeding and slaughtering environment and in the gardens shows that Benin is not aware of the risks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of contaminated products. Terefore, it urges including that germ in a systematic search during safety control of food products in Benin. 1. Introduction Meat is considered as a privileged food because of its nutritive value. It is rich in proteins [1] and carries some essential amino acids. Meat is an important source of iron, vitamin B12, and lipids. Its nature makes it an indispensable food for a well-balanced food intake. Meat delivered for consumption comes from various animals like cattle, pigs, and goats [2]. Being convinced about the indispensable role that meat plays in food and nutritional security of the populations, Benin has granted a major place to the development of livestock keeping in its strategic plan of promotion of the agricultural sector implemented since 2008. However, in the future, consequences for Benin should be noted concerning food Hindawi Publishing Corporation International Journal of Microbiology Volume 2014, Article ID 417848, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/417848