Hygiene Practices in Abattoirs and Microorganisms of Public Health Importance on Meat Cutting Equipment in Anambra State

Hygiene in Nigerian abattoirs poses a serious threat to the environment because of unhygienic practices and their adverse environmental effects. Despite the importance of optimum levels of meat safety in abattoirs, reports have shown that it is poor in some abattoirs in Anambra State. This Cross-sectional descriptive and experimental study was carried out to ascertain the hygiene practices of butchers and microorganisms of public health importance on meat-cutting equipment in Anambra State. Using simple random sampling, 198 butchers in six (6) different abattoirs were selected. A well-structured questionnaire and swab stick were used for data collection. 594 swab samples (198 swab samples from tables, chopping boards and knives of butchers each) were collected. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 28. Chi-square test was used at 0.05% level of significance. Results showed that 44.9% of butchers have a poor level of personal hygiene practice, while 80.3% have good environmental hygiene practices. Nine (9) bacterial isolates and six (6) fungal isolates were isolated from the cutting equipment, which showed that microbial load is high with table 8.3×103±4.9 when compared to board 5.0×102±8.2 and knives 5.1×103±3.2. Most microorganisms from the meat cutting equipment were resistant to different antibiotics 16-36mm. Pathogenicity testing with the microbial isolates showed that out of 18 Staphylococcus species isolated, (33.3%) beta and gamma haemolysis, while (27.2%) out of 11 Streptococcus species produced alpha and beta haemolysis. Aspergillus (27.2%) and Candida species (16.6%) produced alpha and beta haemolysis. There was a statistically significant difference between hygiene practices and microbial load on cutting equipment. From the result, the high microbial load on the boards is a result of the crevices that could be created during cutting of meat using knives and these crevices could form hiding place for the microorganisms. Therefore, adequate scrubbing of the wooden surfaces used in meat cutting and regular change of the wooden surfaces is necessary in order to reduce microbial contaminations. The state government and other regulatory bodies should provide standard abattoir operational guidelines for butchers as well as enforce strict adherence to the guidelines.