Abstract
<abstract> This study was conducted to investigate first the bacterial contamination by <italic>Enterobacteriaceae,</italic> fecal coliforms and the prevalence of <italic>Salmonella spp.</italic> and second to identify the main associated risk factors in Algerian farms, slaughterhouses and butcheries during a two-years period. Thus, a cross-sectional study was performed using a simple random sampling method to target 20 farms, 10 slaughterhouses and 5 butcheries. A structured questionnaire was further used to assess hygienic status of the farms and slaughterhouses. A total of 265 samples were collected from wall, floor, litter, food, water and animals' samples composed mainly of meat, neck skin and liver. Samples from walls and floors, from different sites were analyzed to evaluate the overall contamination and the hygiene of sites for Total viable bacteria, <italic>Enterobacteriaceae</italic> counts and Fecal coliforms counts. Furthermore, <italic>E.coli</italic> and <italic>salmonella spp</italic>. were identified in all samples. The overall contamination by sampling sites expressed as log<sub>10 CFU/g</sub> (mean ± SD) for Total Aerobic Microbial Count, Enterobacteriaceae count and fecal coliforms counts were around 4.71 ± 1.1, 4.73 ± 1.3 and 4.68 ± 1.2 respectively. The findings evidenced that the prevalence of <italic>E.coli</italic> and <italic>Salmonella spp.</italic> were 63.40% and 18.49% respectively. The highest rate of <italic>E.coli</italic> contamination was for poultry farms (70%), beef farms (64%) and butcheries (74.54%) followed by poultry meat slaughterhouses (60%) and sheep farms (48%) while beef slaughterhouses have the lowest rate of contamination (33.84%). For <italic>salmonella spp.</italic> the contamination was found to be mainly in poultry meat slaughterhouses (31.11%), butcheries (25.45%), followed by poultry farms (22%), beef farms (20%) and sheep farms (12%) while beef slaughterhouses have the lowest rate of contamination (4.61%). This study evidenced multifactor effects of microbial contamination in farms such as animal density, litter hygiene and scraping, manure storage, water and pest control, contact with other animals and decontamination process. Overall, this trial indicated a high rate of microbial contamination for which further studies are needed to determine all the potential risk factors in order to evaluate the corrective effects. </abstract>
Highlights
Algeria is believed to have the second livestock population in North Africa, with an estimated population of 1.9 million cattle, 26.4 million sheep and 4.8 million goats, with an estimated meat production of 4.7 million quintals [1]
The results of this study revealed that only 20% of slaughtered animals are uncontaminated which can be a risk factor of E. coli and Salmonella spp. contamination
The results showed that slaughterhouses with walls and floors are in poor condition and those without a mechanical chain were more contaminated by E. coli and Salmonella spp
Summary
Algeria is believed to have the second livestock population in North Africa, with an estimated population of 1.9 million cattle, 26.4 million sheep and 4.8 million goats, with an estimated meat production of 4.7 million quintals [1]. In Algeria, the consumption of animal products such as meat, milk and egg is rising due to rapid demographic expansion, growing rhythms of urbanization, and an obvious evolution in the consumption habits. This trend has induced a surge in the demand of animal products with emerging risks of a food dependency for the region [2]. There may be defective processing practices at any point from the farm-to-fork chain, which increase the chances of contamination and spread of foodborne pathogens [3]. The risk of food getting contaminated depends largely on the health status of the food handlers, their personal hygiene, knowledge and practice of food hygiene among others [5]
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