Table 1 Databases searched and the search terms used to identify publications on bacterial contamination of herbal medicines in the EAC member countries since 2000

Google scholar

Herbal medicine, Indigenous traditional medicine, Microbial contamination, Bacteria, Herbal medicine safety, Herbal medicine risks, East Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan.

PubMed

HerbMed

MEDLINE

Science Direct

Scifinder scholar

Cochrane Library

International Pharmaceutical Abstracts

EMBASE

Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau Abstracts

Biological Abstracts