Assessment of Bacterial Contamination of Sheep Carcasses at Slaughterhouse in Khartoum State

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the microbial contamination of sheep carcasses before and after wearing gloves, apron, mask and caps at slaughterhouse in Khartoum state. A total of 600 swab samples were collected from different operational points namely; skinning, evisceration and washing from the site of neck, shoulder, brisket and rump. The Total Viable Count (TVC) was used to assess bacterial these sites before and after treatment by wearing protective clothes. In addition 60 swab samples were taken from hands of workers and their knives also before and after sterilization by tap water at 82 �C. The results revealed that there was reduction in the bacterial counts according to the anatomical site of sampling at operational points with range of 2.39�1.03 log10 cfu/ cm2, 2.30�1.11 log10 cfu/cm2, 2.35�0.98 log10 cfu/ cm2 in the neck after treatment (p? 0.05). respectively The viable counts of the workers� hands reduced to 2.23�0.99 log10 cfu/ cm2, 2.12�1.33 log10 cfu/ cm2, 2.12�1.01 log10 cfu/ cm2 at different operational points (P<0.05). The presence of bacteria in the meat in the slaughterhouse indicated that unhygienic processing of meat? 2013 Sudan University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved