Bacterial contamination of beef carcasses in slaughter houses Khartoum State, Sudan

Abstract

This study was conducted to isolate bacteria contaminating beef carcasses and to determine the antimicrobial sensitivity test of the most frequent isolated Gram negative bacteria against selected antibiotics. Sixty swab samples were collected randomly from posterior and anterior surfaces of beef carcasses from slaughterhouses at Khartoum State. The collected Samples were transported to the Department of Bacteriology, Veterinary Research Institute for microbiological examinations. The most frequent isolated Gram positive bacteria were Bacillus lechiniformis 15.4. %, Streptococcus spp. 8.7%, Micrococcus kristinae 5.8%, Staphylococcus aureus 2.9%, while the most frequent isolated Gram negative bacteria were Proteus mirabilis 13.5%, Klebsiella pneumonia 6.7%, Citrobacter spp. 1.9%, and Vibrio spp. 1.9%. Antibiotics sensitivity testing was carried out for 7 Gram negative isolates. The isolates showed variable reaction to the tested antibiotics. From the result it could be concluded that these Gram negative organisms reduce quality of meat and could play public health hazard