Determination of Bacterial Qualities of Cow, Chicken and Goat Meat Sold in Owerri Municipal, Imo State, Nigeria

The poor hygienic state of our abattoirs and markets where meats are sold have posed a major threat to public health. The microbial quality of meats sold in Owerri municipal Imo State, Nigeria was investigated with the aim of determining the microbial loads of meat sold in these areas. Samples numbering 110 were collected from 11 meat samples types sourced from cow, goat, and chicken. The eleven (11) meat sample types were fresh cow muscles (FCM), fresh cow intestine (FCI), fresh cow liver (FCL), and fresh cow towel (FCT). Fresh goat muscles (FGM), fresh chicken muscle (FCM), fresh goat intestine (FGI), fresh chicken intestine (FCI), Fresh goat liver (FGL), fresh chicken liver (FCL), fresh goat towel (FGT) etc. The samples were collected with sterile containers and swab sticks. The organisms isolated were Escherichia coli, Salmonella species, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella species, Coliform species. Fresh chicken intestine has the highest total mean bacteria count of 1.1 × 107 (cfu)/ml, followed by fresh cow towel 7.0 × 106 (cfu)/ml and lastly fresh chicken liver 8.2 ×105 (cfu)/ml. The presence of all these organisms can pose a major threat to public health. This calls for regular inspection of animals, abattoir environments and regular health check of abattoirs workers and butchers.