Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment of Foodborne Salmonella in Bukavu City, Democratic Republic of Congo

Salmonella remains a primary cause of enteric disease. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the lack of quantitative data on foodborne Salmonella exposure limits effective risk assessment and food safety management, underscoring the necessity for robust monitoring tools. Here, we applied a quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) to estimate the risk of Salmonella exposure through contaminated foods in Bukavu. Food samples were collected from multiple points of sale and analyzed using culture-based microbiological methods. The QMRA integrated Salmonella loads, exposure doses, dose–response modeling, and risk characterization to estimate Salmonella infection probabilities across varying consumption scenarios and exposure durations. High Salmonella loads were detected, with exposure doses increasing proportionally with food consumption, and Salmonella infection risk rising with increasing dose. This study provides the first QMRA-based estimates of foodborne Salmonella risk in the DRC and introduces a pathway framework that incorporates environmental conditions and cross-contamination at the food establishment level. These findings offer a practical evidence base to inform food safety monitoring and reduce the burden of foodborne disease in resource-limited settings.