Evaluation of the hygienic status at El-Qurein abattoir

Abstract

Cross-contamination of animal carcasses and their contact surfaces at any level of the meat handling process is a significant factor in the production of high-quality meat. The present study was carried out to investigate the hygienic status at El-Qurein abattoir, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Microbial indicators for the hygienic measures including total aerobic plate count (APC) and Staphylococcus count (TSC) were investigated. In addition, the prevalence of Staphylococcus species among abattoir samples and Staphylococcus aureus antimicrobial susceptibility testing were also detected. The obtained results revealed that the bacterial contamination in abattoir samples was as follows; abattoir effluents > floors > walls > brisket > rump with mean values of 5.89 ±0.01, 5.65±0.02, 5.06±0.01, 4.87±0.01, and 4.41±0.05 log10 CFU/cm 2 , respectively for APC, while, 4.92 ± 0.02, 4.80 ± 0.02, 4.70 ± 0.02, 4.61 ± 0.03, and 4.38 ± 0.05 log10 CFU/cm 2 for TSC, respectively. The disc diffusion test of S. aureus isolates revealed its resistance to most of the tested antibiotics with high multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) indices. It was concluded that the hygienic measures at El-Qurein abattoir were inadequate. This study suggested the necessity of the application of appropriate food safety practices inside the abattoir and the adoption of personal hygienic measures among abattoir workers.

Rabbit meat as a potential source of multidrug-resistant and enterotoxigenic <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> strains

“…However, rabbit meat is also regarded as a potential source of spoilage and food poisoning organisms, which can cause a variety of negative health effects and shorten the shelf life of rabbit meat [4]. Staphylococcus contamination of food results from inadequate hygienic handling and processing, which could be hazardous to human health [28]. Regarding Staphylococcus count, Morshdy et al [8] recorded an initially higher count of 1.34 × 10 4 CFU/g in freshly untreated rabbit meat samples from Egypt.…”