The Prevalence of Listeria Species in Different Food Items of Animal and Plant Origin in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Listeriosis is one of an important emerging zoonotic disease affecting human health following the consumption of contaminated foods of animal origin. It results in serious clinical complications in humans with a high case facility rate. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of Listeria species in Ethiopia. Methods: A systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Library. All identified observational studies reporting the prevalence of Listeria species in different food items of animal and plant origin in Ethiopia were included. Three authors independently extracted data and analyzed them using STATA version 13 statistical software. A random effects model was computed to estimate the pooled prevalence of Listeria species in Ethiopia. Results: After reviewing 122 studies, 5 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the meta-analysis. The findings from the 5 studies revealed that the pooled prevalence of Listeria species in different food items of animal and plant origin in Ethiopia was 27% (95% CI: 25, 29). The highest prevalence of Listeria species was reported in beef meat followed by ice cream with prevalence rates of 62% (95% CI: 50, 75) and 43% (95% CI: 33, 53), respectively. Conclusion: The presence of Listeria species in different food items of animal and plant origin in Ethiopia is an indicator of the presence of public health hazards to the consumer, particularly to the high-risk groups. Hence awareness creation on food safety and implementation of regulations is strongly recommended.