Improper Storage of Grains: An Important Cause of Spread of Zoonotic Infections

Abstract

In order to learn the spread of zoonotic infections and its impact on human health we have enlighten one of the aspect i.e. improper storage of grains that are used in daily diet and because of economic lapses the shopkeepers and godown owner do not concern for high quality.The natural reservoirs of zoonose are wild life but now pets and domestic animals are also carrying zoonose and transmitting it to human population as wild life do. This study was performedto determine the amount of zoonotic infections spread by rodents through improper grain storage. Nine samples were collected from different go downs and grocery stores, of Federal B Area (water pump grocery market) and Gulshan e Iqbal Karachi. Each sample was processed for the presence of bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungal species. We found that grain samples did contain Gram positive strains i.e., Bacillus sp., Staphlococcus sp., Listeria sp., Clostridium sp. with few gram negative strains of bacteria. It is concluded that the improper storage of grains and prevalence of rodents in go downs and grocery shops contribute a lot in the spread of zoonosis, hence proper storage planning and ISO standardization should be followed appropriately to overcome the spread of zoonoses. The rodent diseases are fatal and it should be treated in time before complications, otherwise these rodents may spread a wide range of infections to human.

Keywords

• Zoonotic infections
• Grains
• Rodents
• Storage