Pathogenic bacteria isolated from infant feeding teats: contamination of teats used by illiterate and educated nursing mothers in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

We assessed bacterial contamination of infant feeding teats among nursing mothers and identified pathogenic organisms that might be associated with the incidence of diarrhea. The incidence of diarrhea among the infants of illiterate mothers was fivefold that of infants of educated mothers. The vast majority of the illiterate mothers poorly sterilized their infants' feeding utensils. The most prevalent pathogenic organism isolated from the teats was enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, followed by Staphylococcus aureus. Unhygienic handling of feeds is an important factor in infantile diarrhea.