The study was conducted on 198 table eggs that were collected from markets, and manual
and automatic farms in EL-Fayoum governorate, to assess the existence of foodborne
pathogens (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus), either on the outer eggshell or inner
egg contents and to evaluate the reduction capacity of three antimicrobial agents (citric acid
3%, Sodium bicarbonate 3% and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) 3%) against eggshells bacterial
load. The obtained results found that Staph. aureus has recorded the highest prevalence (90%)
in table eggs, Almost, E. coli and Staph. aureus isolates exhibited high resistance to the tested
antibiotics. Also, the E. coli isolates were positive to virulence genes (tet A gene and dfr A
gene). Finally, the effect of tested antimicrobial agents on the experimentally contaminated
eggs showed that H2O2 (3%) was more effective in reducing the load of E. coli on eggshells
than the other antimicrobial agents tested, while bicarbonate 3% expressed a significant
ability to reduce Staph. aureus