Aerobic Bacteria Associated With Contamination of Fresh Camel Meat in the Slaughter Houses of the Sudan

Abstract

The present study was carried out in four abattoirs where camels are slaughtered. They are located at El-Obeid (North Kordofan State), Tambol (Gezira State), Abudeleig and El Salaam (Khartoum State). Samples were collected from the slaughtered animals to assess meat hygiene practice and to carry out investigations that aimed at: 1. Determining of bacterial load and level of contamination within the abattoirs, the effect of treatment, the season and geographical location on the contamination level. 2. Determining the source of contamination of camel meat within the abattoir. 3. Isolating and identifying the bacterial contaminants of the meat to the species level. 4. Differentiating between camel meat from other types of meat. 5. Determining the bactericidal effect of camel humps fats on bacterial growth in vitro. Critical control points were selected in camel slaughter line. Samples were collected from working tools such as knives, hands of workers and various parts of the carcasses, e.g. humps. necks, briskets and flank. The collection was made after skinning, evisceration and washing the carcass with the tank water and after washing with chlorinated water treated with 80, 100 and 110 ppm of chlorine. The samples were taken during slaughtering and dressing procedures and the surface contamination of camel carcasses Please purchase PDFcamp Printer on http://www.verypdf.com/ to remove this watermark. xiii was studied. The highest contamination recorded was in samples collected before and after washing the carcasses with tank water. Treatment with chlorinated water reduced the contaminants titre, and none was recorded when 110 ppm colorine was used. The highest contamination levels recorded were found to be in the flank region, whereas the lowest contamination was found in the humps region. Seasonal variation for bacterial contamination revealed the highest contamination levels was in summer and the lowest was recorded in the winter. The highest contamination levels were found in Al-obied and Tambul, whereas the lowest contamination was found in Al-Salaam abattoir. Bacterial isolation and identification, following the standard bacteriological techniques revealed the following aerobic bacterial species: Gram-positive: Staphylococcus capitis (3.5%), S. hyicus (3.8%), S. lentus (2.8%), S. sciuri (6.0%), S. epidermidis (2.0%), S. caseolyticus (6.0%), S. caprea (2.2%), S. gallinarum (5.0%), S. kloosii (2.1%), S. intermedius (1.2%), S. aureus (5.4%), S. simulans (6.0%), S. xylosus (2.7%), S. hominis (3.0%), Micrococcus luteus (3.8%), M. roseus (1.9%), M. varians (3.9%), M. nishinomiyaensis (2.0%), M. lyiae (1.3%), M. sedentariu (1.3%), Stomatococcus mucilaginosus (2.7%), Bacillus lentus (2.4%), B. sphaericus (1.6%), B. macerans (2.4%), B. cereus (3.7%), B. thuringiensis (4.0%), B. alvei (1.6%), B. coagulans (1.1%), B. mycoides (1.5%), B. laterosporus (6.0%), Leuconostoc (2.0%), Lacto-bacillus brevis (4.0%), Corynebacterium Please purchase PDFcamp Printer on http://www.verypdf.com/ to remove this watermark. xiv diphtheriticum (2.0%), C. pilosum (1.0%), C. xerosis (3.0%), Aerococcus viradans (1.3%), Rothiadentocariosa (1.7%), Kurthia zopfii (6.0%) and Gemella haemolysans (5.0%). The Gram-negative isolates were: E. coli (10.1%), Klebsiella pneumoniae sub pneumoniae (4.4%), K. oxytoca (2.4%), Proteus mirabilis (4.7%), Proteus penneri (0.6%), Pasteurella multocida (2.5%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1.4%), Citrobacter koseri (0.6%), Flavobacterium breve (0.1%), Entrobacter aerogenes (0.6%), Branhamella caterrhalis (0.5%), Serratia marinorubra (0.7%), Edwardsiella tarda (0.4%), Hafnia alvel 0.8%), Neisseria lactamica (0.2%), Acinetobacter calcoaceticus (0.2%), Moraxella osloensis (0.3%) and Kluyvera (2.0%). Hump fats inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. In differentiating camel meat by using anti-camel hyperimmune serum prepared in rabbits, precipitation bands were observed with turbid line between the homologous camel meat extract and hyperimmune serum, while faint lines were recorded with heterologous antigen from other type of meat. This will disqualify the use of immunodiffission test to differentiate between meats of various animals.